Email that has passed through the two pre-filtering systems listed above will be analyzed and "tagged" if the email is likely to be spam. MailScanner uses two levels of tagging based on the final score. These levels can be adjusted using the MailScanner utility that comes with your LinkSky account control panel (cPanel).

As a result, a scoring tag will appear in the subject line of a suspected spam email:
-s-S = Email that has been scored HIGH; there is an extremely high likelihood that the email is spam.
-s- = Email that has a LOW score is probably, or very likely to be spam.

By default email with the high -s-S tag will be deleted at the server. Of course, this option along with the scoring threshold level can be changed.

Email addresses, and even entire domains can be white listed so that the email will not be scanned, or blacklisted do that the email (from the particular address or domain) will be deleted at the server.

It is very easy to set up a simple content filter in your favorite email program (Outlook, Thunderbird, MacMail, etc.) to watch for the spam-tag and divert those messages into a "junk" folder. We recommend letting your software do the sorting for you! Simply check the contents of your "junk" folder (just in case there is a legtimate message) and you can probably delete it all -- thereby completing the circuit on a very powerful network assisted anti-spam system.

The best thing about this system is the intelligence that goes into determining which email is spam, and which is legitimate email. Here are just some of the technologies that go into this process:

SpamAssassin

SpamAssassin uses a wide variety of local and network tests to identify spam signatures making it harder for spammers to identify one aspect which they can craft their messages to work around. LinkSky maintains custom rulesets including a greater variety of RBLs (realtime black lists), as well as conditional rulesets that keep up with the latest trends in spam, e.g. image only, common phishing phrases, hidden links, etc.

LinkSky SpamAssassin rulesets are updated daily.

DCC - Distributed Checksum Clearinghouses

The Distributed Checksum Clearinghouses or DCC is an anti-spam content filter that runs on a variety of operating systems. As of mid-2008, it involves millions of users, more than six hundred thousand client computer systems, and more than 250 servers collecting and counting checksums related to more than 300 million mail messages on weekdays.

The idea of DCC is that if mail recipients could compare the mail they receive, they could recognize unsolicited bulk mail. A DCC server totals reports of checksums of messages from clients and answers queries about the total counts for checksums of mail messages. A DCC client reports the checksums for a mail message to a server and is told the total number of recipients of mail with each checksum.

Because simplistic checksums of spam would not be effective, the main DCC checksums use fuzzy logic and ignore aspects of messages. The fuzzy checksums are changed as spam evolves. Since DCC came in to use in late 2000, the fuzzy checksums have been modified several times.

Vipul's RAZOR

Vipul's Razor is a distributed, collaborative, spam detection and filtering network. Through user contribution, Razor establishes a distributed and constantly updating catalogue of spam in propagation that is consulted by email clients to filter out known spam. Detection is done with statistical and randomized signatures that efficiently spot mutating spam content. User input is validated through reputation assignments based on consensus on report and revoke assertions which in turn is used for computing confidence values associated with individual signatures.

Bayesian Spam Filtering

Bayesian filtering uses advanced probability methods to determine what may be spam. This system analyzes patterns of all email being received by the server and learns from these patterns as they change over time. If any spam does happen to slip through all other filtering, then the bayesian system will usually elevate the spam score until the spam scoring threshold is reached and the incoming spam is tagged. Over time the bayesian is a very robust, highly accurate system that will self-adjust as needed.

 

Anti-Virus

Anti-virus "signatures" are updated twice daily to assure that the LinkSky hosted email you receive is virus free.

The response to a virus attached email can be set in any LinkSky hosted cPanel/MailScanner utility area. Virus attached email can be received (not recommended), or the infected attachment can be stripped to allow just and only the text part of the message to your in-box (also not recommended), or you can elect to have the virus infected email deleted at the server before it arrives to your in-box.

By default, all LinkSky hosted email used the critically acclaimed ClamAV system.

Clam AntiVirus