Why are you filtering out <font color="#ffffff">?

These are also valid ones. Basically you're blocking any html message that has a comment.

<!--a
<!--b
<!--c
<!--d
<!--e
<!--f
<!--g
<!--h
...

...

MOST, not ALL email servers support poppassd.  This would be a clean interface to the pop servers password file.  Of course, MS exchange would be an issue. Most popservers I have worked with have similar ways to get at the pop passwords but I wouldn't know how to integrate them.  For myself, being that we have so many accounts, and adding usernames and passwords one at a time would be a problem, I can visualize a web form where the customer requests access to the Spam Management.  The web form can then automatically email the customer back (if someone was trying to spoof, the actual user will get the email) and if the user than replies back, an administrator merely clicks on an "approved" link and the form adds the username (the users email address) and his password into a database.  We do this for several of the secure services we provide and it takes about 5 minutes a day out of my life to manage it.  The first 1 or 2 days would be the only "log jam".

Just an idea.

Dan S.

Roberto,
How will you control how the user logs in to the new web interface. I would hope that there would be some kind of security model that prevents someone other then the actual email account holder from accessing the account.  It would not be a good idea for just anyone to be able to check some else’s account. Example: user1@somedomain.com checking user2@somedomain.com. If there was no log in control built in then a spammer could just go in and force the quarantined emails to be delivered.

That being said, due to the many different email servers in use, it would not work to use the mail server login accounts due to incompatibility problems. So this leaves an opt-in model that would have to be verified by the admin on the system.

Is this close or do you have something else in mind?

Hi Sean,

We may add subject tagging in the very near future. However you reason for having it may disappear after using the new quarantine we are developing. It's database-based, and we are developing both ASP and PHP interfaces that will allow the end users to sift thru their quarantine items, without bothering the administrators. The will be able to see/preview/force-send/delete their quarantined items. Access to the SpamFilter server will not be needed (security....). All that's required is that the web server be able to communicate with the back-end database. We're aiming to support the following for now: MS Access (low traffic admins may have the need for this), MS-SQL, Oracle and MySQL. We should be able to release a beta build very soon, within days.

Roberto Franceschetti
LogSat Software

I'm agreeing with both of you here... SPAM is an annoyance, but as stated, some people actually do want it, odd or not, its true, people actually sign up to recieve some of this stuff, however as George said most is not legit, and by keyword filtering you run the risk of blocking both legit and non-legit. It's the price you pay to help combat this problem.

Now as for RBL list, these can tend to be a problem, they at time block entire subnets, which leads to a loss of a great amount of legit emails, why block an enitire domain because a Spamer used their mail server, chances are the SPAM could have just been a spoofed IP cause the RBL to include the address.

There is so much involved in blocking SPAM, its a major project. You have to be willing to do so though.

Now for another problem. In a running environment is the only way to test to see if your filters work, problem being it creates a large amount of time and resources to sift through the quarentine. One major enhancement I must suggest to be pushed for is "Tagging". with this, it will place a message in the Subject. (EX. "*POSSIBLE SPAM CAUGHT BY FILTER* - enlarge your pen1s t0day"). this would allow the Admin to pick up and generate their Black list, as well as ensure all emails are still going through. Don't get me wrong the quarentine is great, but it is time consumming.

By The Way LogSat... Awesome Product!!!!!! Keep up the good work! 

Just a follow up.

Out of 75792 Email attempts, 5377 emails were forwarded in the last week.
SpamFilterISP rocks!!! For $200 you have a great tool that will only get better.
Keep up the great job LogSat.

You being a commercial ISP, you should already know that 98% of these kinds of bulk mail ads are scams. Anyone foolish enough to think that they will actually get a bigger penis or real mortgage re-finance loan from some spammer that is sending thousands of spam from some foreign country using a fake email address is just plain stupid. I find it crazy that with all the news of the scams and fraud anyone thinks this crap is real. The only ones that profit from SPAM are the spammers who turn around and sell the email address's that are verified by dummies who actually clink on the links.
Besides if your clients really want this crap, just put them in the "unfiltered list" and they can have it. Just remember that those who allow SPAM to continue are part of the problem. Since I have been blocking SPAM using this program over the last 30 days, I have not had one person ask for SPAM, quite the contrary, I have had nothing but happy clients. Having owned my ISP since 1995, I have seen SPAM grow from a minor nuisance to a major problem.
If ISP's would do their job and use Reverse DNS properly and not continue to allow SPAMMERS a free pass, this would not be such a big problem. But because most ISP's would rather get the almighty $$$ then lose a client(Spammer) this will continue to be a problem.
The biggest problem with SPAM not blocked/ filtered at the server is that the client has to download and then delete it. Once SPAMFilterISP gets the new release with the web interface the cleints can decide if they want the SPAM that was filtered sent to them or deleted.
My 3 cents worth.

The Definition of Spam (copied from Spamhaus)

The word "Spam" as applied to Email means Unsolicited Bulk Email ("UBE"). Unsolicited means that the Recipient has not granted verifiable permission for the message to be sent. Bulk means that the message is sent as part of a larger collection of messages, all having substantively identical content.

Technical Definition: An electronic message is "spam" IF: (1) the recipient's personal identity and context are irrelevant because the message is equally applicable to many other potential recipients; AND (2) the recipient has not verifiably granted deliberate, explicit, and still-revocable permission for it to be sent; AND (3) the transmission and reception of the message appears to the recipient to give a disproportionate benefit to the sender.

OK ... I tend to get long winded but I have been at this anti-spam problem for over 2 years and it has been one of my "pet projects". Please excuse the fact that I can't spell to save my life.

Here is my take on the whole filter list problem.  As a commercial ISP, we find that some people actualy WANT to enlarge their penis or partake  in odd (to me anyway) sexual practices.  We also have a lot of realestate companies so the whole "finance your home" issue is a problem.  Unless you are administrating an Enterprise network, and are in the position of censoring your users, ANY filter list has the problem of "throwing out the baby with the bath water". 

We are looking at "self learning" bezier filters that score the percent PROBABILITY that the mail is SPAM.  If, at some date, a "hook" is developed as part of the spamfilterISP software that can take advantage of this kind of filter, AND the end user can customize their level of blocking, then filtering becomes more reliable.  There are antispam packages out there that use this method ... we looked at several of them.  They are ALL in the $80K - $100K price range! 

By just using our preferred dnsbl lists and our own dnsbl, AND testing for RDNS, with the SpamFilter ISP software, we are tossing  about 80% of our inbound mail as junk.  So far, we have had VERY few messages that our customers actually wanted and my own inbox has dropped from my usual 8-9 hundred SPAM messages in a 24 hour period to about a total of 12!

Bottom line ... any attempts we make to use filter LISTS, causes us lots of tech support issues and the Spammers are constantly changing theit tactics so the filters break.  We find that helping the operators of dnsbl lists is more productive ... for our application as I said.

For your personal or Enterprise networks, keep pounding away at the filter lists.

Dan Seligmann

Mags Net, LLC

This is my current list of banned keywords. It is long and grows daily as I get spammed. I hate SPAM!!!!!!! The last 8 are to block the new virus that poses as an email from Microsoft support.

List starts below.

<font color="#ffffff">
unbelievable,sex
x-antiabuse
mortgage,click here,mailing
free mailing list
mortgage,rates
reduce,mortgage,rate
reducing,mortgage,rate
toplenders.biz
murzel.net
web-vit.com
ientry.com
netsensation.net
liuyi-ltd.com
zooparadize.com
mling.com
easy remove
15,year,$71,000
generic,
arrowblue.com
background checks
193.231.248.138
<!a
<!b
<!c
<!e
<!f
<!g
<!h
<!j
<!k
<!l
<!m
<!n
<!o
<!p
<!q
<!r
<!s
<!t
<!u
<!v
<!w
<!x
<!y
<!z
<!--a
<!--b
<!--c
<!--d
<!--e
<!--f
<!--g
<!--h
<!--i
<!--j
<!--k
<!--l
<!--m
<!--n
<!--o
<!--p
<!--q
<!--r
<!--s
<!--t
<!--u
<!--v
<!--w
<!--x
<!--y
<!--z
<!--1
<!--2
<!--3
<!--4
<!--5
<!--6
<!--7
<!--8
<!--9
<!--0
viagra
daughter and father
brother and sister
nephew with aunt
teens,sex
hot sluts
penis
penis,enlargement
sexual power
giant,dicks
save money
free,instant,access
iraq,most,wanted,deck,cards
savings,insurance
granny,fantasy
spam remedy
work at home
off inkjets
need cash today
get cash,credit check
money to pay your bills
free vacation & free airfare
anal,sex
digital,camera
cocks
pussy
britney spears
suffer,depression
consolidate debt
smartmini cams
digital cable descrambler
you are approved
cum,sex
incest
porn
al saeed hassan
your credit card accounts
free cable
uncensored,movies
virgin,cunt
get cash
hard lezb0
were have you been
where have you been
sexy,ass
undisclosed,recipients
european,hardcore
need more money
fuck
accept,credit cards,checks
septic tank
hardc0re
hardcore
the bat!
<!edr>
naughty
virgins
save now
chicks with dicks
large dicks
teens
teen
prescriptions,written
prescriptions,filled
charset="windows-1251"
powersystems.net
hugefist
your chance to win
adult films
your details
approved (ref: 38446-263)
re: approved (ref: 3394-65467)
re: my details
screensaver
cool screensaver
re: movie
re: my application