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Unsolicited commercial e-mail, also known as spam, has become an increasing problem at the University. To reduce the amount of time involved with managing spam, CaTS is now offering a new anti-spam service called Proofpoint, which is available to faculty, staff, students, and alumni with CaTS based e-mail accounts (@wright.edu). Proofpoint provides the most sophisticated spam evaluation system, and has very few errors when determining whether or not a message is spam. Check out the FAQ below for more information on Proofpoint and how to use it.
**Please note that Safari version 3.1 (web browser) does not currently work with Proofpoint. Contact the Help Desk at 775-4827 if you have questions concerning this.**
General Questions
Usage Questions
General Usage
How do I enable Proofpoint's spam filter?
Can I disable or opt out of Proofpoint's spam filter?
Can I choose what happens to my mail?
End User Digest
Can I disable digest messages?
Can I request a digest at any time?
How often is the digest delivered?
Why didn't I receive a digest today?
Quarantine
Do quarantined messages count against my quota?
How do I delete messages from my quarantine or digest?
Managing the Spam Filter
What do I need to do to monitor spam using Proofpoint?
Can I increase or decrease the aggressiveness of the filter?
Can I block foreign languages?
How do I unjunk a message that isn't spam?
Lists
What are safelists and blocklists?
How do I add or remove addresses to a safelist?
How do I add or removes addresses to a blocklist?
Managing Your Account
What features are available to manage my account?
Why do I have to login to Proofpoint when clicking a link from within my End User Digest?
General Questions
E-mail spam, also known as unsolicited bulk e-mail (UBE) or unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE), is the practice of sending unwanted e-mail messages, frequently with commercial content, in large quantities to an indiscriminate set of recipients (Definition copied from the spam entry on wikipedia.com).
Proofpoint is a spam blocking service that is replacing the University's previous spam filter, MailFrontier. The Proofpoint system inspects all incoming messages to the University and uses rules to determine whether or not a message is spam. Once examined, legitimate messages are sent on to the recipient's inbox, while suspected spam is quarantined. Each morning, users receive an e-mail, called the End User Digest, that contains links to each of the quarantined messages (much like the previous "Summary of Junk Emails Blocked" message). The digest allows the user to further manage their junk e-mail. The success rate of spam blocking is very high with Proofpoint.
After evaluating numerous anti-spam products, Wright State found that Proofpoint was the most successful at blocking spam entering the university's e-mail system. It also had the fewest amount of errors when determining whether or not an e-mail is spam.
All incoming and outgoing e-mail is filtered by the Proofpoint Protection Server. Depending upon Proofpoint Protection Server rules and policies, messages that contain a virus or inappropriate content can either be deleted or "scored." In the case of spam, the message score indicates the probability that the message is spam. So, a message scoring 100 would have a 100% chance of being spam (definite spam) and a message scoring 0 would have 0% chance of being spam. Messages scoring high enough to probably be spam are quarantined by the system. You can find the "score" of a message under the Score column in the End User Digest.
Usage Questions
General Usage
If you want to log in to Proofpoint to change setting and view quarantined messages, follow the steps below:
1) Open your web browser (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc)
2) Go to the website http://antispam.wright.edu
3) Login with your CAMPUS username and password (w001xxx)
Below is a screenshot of the Proofpoint login screen. Note: After logging in to Proofpoint, you will be taken to the 'My Settings' screen.
You can also access Proofpoint by clicking the "Manage My Account" link within your daily End User Digest e-mail.
How do I enable Proofpoint's spam filter?
By default, Proofpoint's spam filter is already enabled for all faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
Can I disable or opt out of Proofpoint's spam filter?
Although not recommended, you can disable, or opt out of, Proofpoint's spam filter. To do so, follow these steps:
1) Login to the Proofpoint system, located at http://antispam.wright.edu, with your CAMPUS username and password
2) Click on the Settings button on the left side of the screen
3) On the right, you'll find the My Settings area, as shown below
4) Under the option for What type of spam detection do you want? choose the "SPAM filtering disabled" option
5) Click the Save button at the bottom to save your changes
Can I choose what happens to my mail?
Yes, you can! The Proofpoint system has various ways that allow you to choose what to do with the spam that comes to your account. Below is a screenshot of the "My Settings" screen (accessed after you login to the spam filter at http://antispam.wright.edu). The screen shows seven ways you can select to choose what happens to your mail. Below the screenshot, each option is explained.
Default - This is the Proofpoint default spam policy that comes pre-configured. As of now, you may choose either this option (which should already be selected by default) or the "Default WSU Spam Policy."
Vacation Policy. Spam quarantined for 4 weeks - If you like to view what spam has been quarantined in your inbox, but you're going to be away for more than 2 weeks, choose this option so that all spam will be quarantined and left alone for 4 weeks, instead of the normal 2 weeks.
Quarantine disabled. Add SPAM tag to subject line - Choose this option if you want all spam delivered to your inbox, but still be tagged with the word SPAM in the subject line.
Opt out of spam filtering, deliver all messages - Choose this option if you want all spam messages delivered to your inbox, without any option of quarantines.
Discard definite spam- Choose this option if you want Proofpoint to automatically discard any messages it marks with a 100 point score (see "How does Proofpoint work?" above for an explanation of scores).NOTE: This option is currently unavailable.
Default WSU Spam Policy. Spam quarantined for 2 weeks - This is another default option that WSU faculty, students, staff, and alumni may choose. You may also choose the "Default" option, which provides the same amount of spam protection.
End User Digest
An End User Digest is a summary e-mail that you receive daily from the Proofpoint server. It is similar to the previous "Summary of Junk Emails Blocked" message from the MailFrontier spam blocking service, but with more options and control. The digest contains a listing of the suspected spam that has been filtered from your account in the previous 24 hours. After review, you can delete the digest just like any other e-mail. Messages left in quarantine will be deleted automatically by Proofpoint after 14 days. See the screenshot below for a sample End User Digest.
Can I disable digest messages?
Yes, digest messages can be disabled. Your daily digest e-mail contains a link called "Manage My Account." Click this link, and then select the "Settings" button on the left side. You will now be on the "My Settings" page. To disable the digest only when there are no spam message in your quarantine, uncheck the box at the top for "Send digest even when I have no messages in my End User Digest." To disable the digest even when you have messages in your quarantine, uncheck the box at the top for "Send digest with new messages in End User Digest."
Can I request a digest at any time?
You can request a digest at any time by clicking the link for "Request New End User Digest" within your current End User Digest e-mail. A new digest will be sent to your e-mail address, showing any new messages that have been quarantined since your last digest was sent.
How often is the digest delivered?
The End User Digest is delivered to your e-mail inbox at 7:00 a.m. each morning.
Why didn't I receive a digest today?
If Proofpoint does not block or find any spam messages for your inbox within a 24 hour period, you will not receive an End User Digest.
Quarantine
The Quarantine is a location on the Proofpoint server where e-mail messages that are suspected to be spam are stored temporarily so that they can be reviewed and retrieved, if necessary, by the user. You may review and take action on your quarantined e-mail through the End User Digest, or through the Quarantine option located on the left side of the screen after logging into the Proofpoint Server. Messages left in the Quarantine will be deleted automatically after 14 days.
Do quarantined messages count against my quota?
Quarantined messages do not count toward your e-mail quota. They are stored separately on the WSU Proofpoint server.
How do I delete messages from my quarantine or digest?
There is no need to delete messages that have been quarantined, since the Proofpoint system automatically deletes them after 14 days.
Managing the Spam Filter
What do I need to do to monitor spam using Proofpoint?
Generally, there isn't much that you'll need to do to monitor spam filtering through Proofpoint. By default, spam filtering is turned on, and predefined levels are already set. However, you can do a few things to make sure you stay on top of what Proofpoint is filtering as spam.
1) Open the End User Digest e-mail that you receive each day and review the listing of messages that were marked as spam.
2) If any messages you find are not spam, click the "Release" or "Safelist" links to release the message to your inbox, and if applicable, add the sender to your safelist.
3) If all messages are spam, you can simply delete the End User Digest e-mail.
Can I increase or decrease the aggressiveness of the filter?
Unlike MailFrontier, our previous spam filtering system, you cannot increase or decrease the aggressiveness of the filter. The aggressiveness of the filter is set automatically by the Proofpoint system, using a wide range of variables to determine if a message is spam. In testing, however, the Proofpoint system has been found to block numerous spam messages that MailFrontier did not catch.
Can I block foreign languages?
You cannot block foreign languages. The Proofpoint systems uses a large number of variables to determine whether a message is spam, and these variables are far more effective than simply blocking foreign languages.
How do I unjunk a message that isn't spam?
When you receive a copy of your End User Digest, and find that there is a message marked as spam that you would like to unjunk, you can do so by using the tools listed beside each message. The screenshot below shows a copy of the End User Digest as delivered to your inbox, and each option is then discussed.
View link - The View link allows you to open the e-mail from within the Proofpoint server so that it can be safely read. You can then determine whether or not the message is spam.
Release link - The Release link releases the e-mail from the Proofpoint quarantine and delivers it to your inbox.
Safelist link - The Safelist link releases the e-mail into your inbox and places the sender on a safelist so that subsequent e-mails from the sender arrive in your inbox.
Not Spam link - The Not Spam link releases the e-mail into your inbox and sends a notification to Proofpoint indicating that the e-mail was not spam. Future message that are similar to the message will not be filtered as spam.
Lists
What are safelists and blocklists?
Safelists are lists of e-mail addresses (usually defined by the user) that tells the anti-spam system to deliver any message that comes from those particular addresses directly to the user's inbox. Blocklists are lists of e-mail addresses (usually defined by the user) that tells the anti-spam system to quarantine any message that comes from those particular addresses.
How do I add or remove addresses to a safelist?
To add a sender to a safelist, follow these steps:
1) Login to the Proofpoint system, located at http://antispam.wright.edu, with your CAMPUS username and password
2) Click on the Lists button on the bottom left side of the screen
3) Click on the Safe Senders List on the left side
4) On the right side, at the very top, click the New button
5) In the box, type in the sender's address, or, if you'd like to make an entire domain safe, type in the domain in the format of "@domain.com." See the screenshot below.
6) Click the Save button
How do I add or remove addresses to a blocklist?
To add a sender to a blocklist, follow these steps:
1) Login to the Proofpoint system, located at http://antispam.wright.edu, with your CAMPUS username and password
2) Click on the Lists button on the bottom left side of the screen
3) Click on the Blocked Senders List on the left side
4) On the right side, at the very top, click the New button
5) In the box, type in the sender's address, or, if you'd like to block addresses from an entire domain, type in the domain in the format of "@domain.com." See the screenshot below.
6) Click the Save button
Managing Your Account
What other features are available to manage my account?
Within the End User Digest e-mail, there are links available that let you quickly access other features of your account. These options, listed above and to the right of the message listings, are described below.
Request New End User Digest - This option allows you to request an updated version of your End User Digest, which will list any new messages that have been placed in the Quarantine since your last Digest was sent.
Request Safe/Blocked Senders List - This option allows you to request a listing of senders on your Safe and Block lists. The Proofpoint server will send this listing via e-mail.
Manage My Account - This option provides you with a quick link to the Proofpoint server for managing your account profile, lists, and other options
Why do I have to login to Proofpoint when clicking a link from within my End User Digest?
Although the End User Digest shows the messages that are in your quarantine, the e-mail is not directly connected to your quarantine area on the Proofpoint server. For security reasons, you must still logon to the Proofpoint server when going to it from the End User Digest.
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