Network & Computer Services has implemented an email policy software package that allows us to check for and delete spam (unsolicited commercial email). This system will help ensure BHSU is protected from virus threats, email worms, known spammers, and suspicious email attachments, as well as save you time each day from having to delete hundreds of spam messages from your mailbox. Quarantine Digest will be sent each day at 8:00 AM which contain excerpts of your quarantined messages. The daily digest contains a link to your web interface. Click the link in the digest to login. Your login is your email address in the following format, ex. firstname.lastname@bhsu.edu. Use the same password as you use to login to your computer. The End-User Web Interface allows you control of whitelists (approved senders), blacklists (blocked senders), and the option to opt-out of spam protection, should you choose. From the web interface you can deliver your quarantined messages. You can add the site to your favorites and visit your web interface at any time. The web interface is secured with a SSL certificate, ensuring your login information is kept secure.

Spam - "The electronic equivalent of junk mail often in the form of commercial announcements. The act of sending a spam is called, naturally, "spamming." To crash a program by overrunning a fixed-site buffer with excessively large input data. Also, to cause a person or newsgroup to be flooded with irrelevant or inappropriate messages."(definition from TechDictionary.com)

Blacklist - "Generally, a blacklist is a list of people or things that have incurred disapproval or suspicion or are to be boycotted or otherwise penalized. Related to e-mail, blacklisted IP addresses will not be allowed to send mail to someone trusting the blacklist. Blacklisted e-mail addresses will not be allowed to send mail to a user or organization." (definition from www.mxes.org)

Whitelist - "A whitelist is a list of e-mail addresses or domain names from which an e-mail blocking program will allow messages to be received. E-mail blocking programs, also called spam filters, are intended to prevent most unsolicited e-mail messages (spam) from appearing in subscriber inboxes. But these programs are not perfect. Cleverly crafted spam gets through, and a few desired messages are blocked. Most Internet users can tolerate the occasional unsolicited e-mail advertisement that a spam filter misses, but are concerned by the thought that an important message might not be received. The whitelist option is a solution to the latter problem. The list can be gradually compiled over a period of time, and can be edited whenever the user wants. Some spam filters delete suspected junk e-mail messages straightaway, but others allow the user to place them in a quarantined inbox. Periodically, the quarantined messages are observed to see if any of them are legitimate messages. This option is used by some Web-based e-mail clients in place of, or in addition to, a whitelist." (definition from SearchSecurity.techtarget.com)