Information Technology News

Information Technology's Latest Anti-Spam Efforts

Information Technology is working hard to fight spam. Although the ongoing battle against these unsolicited email messages is far from over, IT is seeing positive results from its efforts to date.

Chuck Shomper, associate vice president and chief information officer for IT, recently reported that current efforts by IT have resulted in an 80 percent reduction in the volume of spam clogging UH servers and mailboxes. This improvement is due to several measures taken by IT, including improved UH email processing as well as more aggressive spam filtering, which identifies and flags messages that meet the criteria for spam while not blocking or deleting other messages.

The latest weapon employed by UH to fight spam is Razor's Gate software. Even though it has been in use at UH for less than a month, it has proven very effective, blocking more than 17,000 spam messages in its first two weeks of use.

Spam Flagging

Spam flagging software currently scans each incoming message sent to IT mail servers at Central.uh.edu and Mail.uh.edu. The software passes each message through an extensive set of tests to determine if the message is likely to be spam. If a message appears suspicious, it is flagged as spam and delivered to your email inbox. If you set up an email filter to route or divert spam messages, spam is sent to your spam folder. Ultimately, you decide how to deal with each flagged message.

"Last year, IT implemented a spam flagging process on mail servers, and we have been refining that process within the last few months to make adjustments for the increase in spam received by the university. Improvements have also addressed the advancing characteristics of spam in the mail received,” said Dr. Dennis Fouty, associate vice president for IT Computing and Telecommunication Services.

Dictionary Attacks

UH also uses techniques to stop the “dictionary attacks” that occur when spammers create lists of actual and potential email addresses and flood the Internet with messages to those addresses. The university benefits from industry efforts to filter mail from these “zombie” machines, which are compromised computers that are remotely triggered by spammers to distribute spam email.

Email "Phishing"

Another UH anti-spam strategy includes the use of Pyzor software, which was introduced on campus in September. This software is designed to effectively thwart attempts at “phishing” (pronounced “fishing") that occurs when an email message falsely claims to be from a legitimate enterprise. Spammers "phish" in an attempt to scam users into surrendering private information that can then be used for identity theft.

Future Anti-Spam Strategies

An anti-spam strategy being considered by IT will permit the quarantine of suspicious email into a folder separate from your regular UH email folder. Another option is to stop malicious software code before it spreads throughout the UH network via email worms and viruses by filtering both incoming and outbound email messages for viruses.

Other potential solutions merge anti-spam strategies with anti-virus protections. Utilizing dual-function products would provide the entire UH computing enterprise with enhanced protection against email-born viruses, trojans, and worms.

iHateSpam Software

At the desktop level, UH students, faculty, and staff have access to an effective weapon against spam. iHateSpam, which has proven to be an effective tool when used in conjunction with IT's anti-spam strategies, is software that uses complex heuristic formulas to segregate incoming email containing "safe" messages from those it deems "unsafe". Through a configuration process that allows a user to establish his or her threshold level for spam filtering, a user is able to assign how much suspicious email he or she wishes to segregate, and how much to let through. Choices include “some spam” for minimal filtering to “all spam,” which places all suspicious email into a “quarantine” folder. The software's default setting of “average” quarantines most incoming mail the software determines is spam.

iHateSpam can be purchased for the discounted price of $15.00 at the IT Support Center, which is located in room 58 in the basement of the M.D. Anderson Library. The IT Support Center is accessible only through the new Technology Support Services entrance, which is directly across from the University Center Bookstore loading dock. It is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., except on holidays. iHateSpam may also be ordered online from the IT Discount Software web site.

Updated Spam Web Site and Classes

No less important in the ongoing fight against spam is education. Educated users play an extremely important role in the fight against spam.

In order to provide the latest anti-spam information to UH students, faculty, and staff, IT has updated its Reducing Spam web site. This site offers a wealth of useful information about existing and emerging tools to combat spam. It also provides information about the free classes that teach you everything you need to know about spam and the available tools.

New Spam Newsletter

A printed newsletter,"Reducing Spam," has been distributed to faculty and staff. This newsletter provides useful, up-to-date information on how to fight spam. If you did not receive a copy of this newsletter, please contact the IT Support Center at 713-743-1411, and one will be mailed to you.

For Additional Information

For additional information about spam at UH, call the IT Support Center at 713-743-1411 (calls answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week), or visit the IT Support Center in room 58 of the M.D. Anderson Library (open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.), or e-mail support@uh.edu.