Spam is generally referred to as any unsolicited commercial e-mail. Marketers are increasingly using e-mail messages to pitch their products and services. Spam is an increasing problem not just for e-mail users on the ENA network, but all across the internet. The level of spam world-wide has increased 500% in the last two years alone. Most research now indicates that between 40 and 50% of all e-mails sent in the United States are spam.

Spammers use a variety of methods to 'harvest' your e-mail address, directly or indirectly from you! Spammers buy a list of e-mail addresses from a list broker, who compiles it by 'harvesting' addresses from the Internet. The marketer then uses special software that can send hundreds of thousands - even millions - of e-mail messages to the addresses at the click of a mouse!

The results of a study performed in March 2003 by the Center for Democracy & Technology indicate that e-mail addresses posted on Web sites or in newsgroups attract the most spam.

Web sites: E-mails placed visibly on a public web site generate the most spam. Spammers use software-harvesting programs such as robots or spiders to record e-mail addresses listed on web sites, including both personal web pages and institutional (corporate or non-profit) web pages.

USENET newsgroups: Newsgroups can expose the e-mail address of every person who posts to the newsgroup to spammers. Newsgroup postings, on average, generate less spam than posting an e-mail address on a high-traffic web site.

To reduce spam, control your e-mail address and how it is used.

No action is necessary to enable spam filtering. ENA automatically provides spam filtering and virus protection to all its email customers, including email users with addresses ending in @k12tn.net or @ten-nash.ten.k12.tn.us.

December 2004 statistics indicate that 80% of all email received in the ENA network was blocked before it reached the end users. Another 2% was not absolutely detectable as spam and, as a result, was marked with {SPAM?} in the email subject line before sending the email to you.

 ENA filters email for viruses, dangerous attachments such as visual basic script (.vbs) and executable (.exe) files, and spam. Spam filtering includes:

 Blacklists: A list of email addresses that are blocked at all times. An email from an address on the blacklist is always considered to be a source of spam; these emails are deleted automatically.

White lists: A list of email addresses that we do not want blocked. An email from an address on the white list is never considered to be a source of spam; these emails will be delivered to you.

Reverse domain system name (DNS): The association of an email's originating Internet Protocol address to a valid domain name or web address by looking it up in the DNS database. If a valid owner is found, the email is delivered to you.

Header analysis: A review of the email header to search for characteristics typical of spam messages.

Content analysis: analyzing the body of the email for known spammer tactics such as chain letters, hoaxes and urban legends and looking for words and phrases in our targeted "words list" (e.g., porn.)

 All emails sent and received by ENA users are filtered for viruses, dangerous attachments, and spam.

Unfortunately, there is no foolproof way to detect and prevent all spam. One person's spam is another person's legitimate e-mail! The tools to fight the spam battle continue to improve. But, just as we continue to enhance our ability to filter, spammers find new ways to disguise their e-mail as legitimate. What may be obvious to the human eye as spam is not always obvious to an automated system.

1. Disguise your e-mail address.

When posting your e-mail address on a public web page, disguise the address by replacing example@domain.com with "example at domain dot com." This makes it more difficult for the "harvesting" programs to pick up the e-mail address.

2. Read carefully when filling out online forms requesting your e-mail address and exercise your choice.

If you don't want to receive e-mail from a Web site operator, don't give them your e-mail address unless they offer the option of declining to receive e-mail and you exercise that option. If you are asked for your e-mail address in an online setting such as a form, make sure you pay attention to any options discussing how the address will be used. Pay attention to check boxes that request the right to send you e-mails or share your e-mail address with partners. Read the privacy policies of Web sites. If you suspect that a Web site has violated its privacy policy, you can report it to your state attorney general or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

3. DO NOT reply to unsolicited e-mail requesting them to leave you alone. If they receive a response, spammers know that they've found an active, valid e-mail address. This will likely have the reverse effect and you will end up with MORE spam, not less.

4. DO NOT use the unsubscribe option on unsolicited e-mail.

Replying to spam in any way provides the spammer with confirmation that they have an active, valid e-mail address. This action will likely increase your incidents of spam.

1. You can automatically delete e-mails marked with {SPAM?}. Most email clients allow rules to be defined that immediately delete any incoming emails that have certain features. Since questionable emails filtered on the ENA network are marked with {SPAM?} in the email subject line, a rule can be defined to delete emails matching this criterion. The risk with this method is that you may inadvertently delete an email that is valid such as a catalog solicitation you want.

2. You can direct emails marked with {SPAM?} into a separate folder. This allows you to review the potential spam email when it is conducive to do so (i.e. there is not student around!)

 3. Outlook 2003 includes a local Junk email filter. You can enable it by going to Tools | Options | Junk Email. Other email clients may include similar filtering features as well. Please consult the documentation for your mail client.

 4. Use WebMail to report missed spam. By using the Report As Spam feature of WebMail (http://webmail.k12tn.net), you can provide feedback to the spam filtering software that will help it to better identify similar messages in the future.

If the email is particularly egregious or you are receiving an enormous amount, send the offensive email, including the header (see the How To Send E-mail Header Info Document for details), to abuse@ena.com. ENA will determine the actual sender of the e-mail and take measures to block future emails.

 Also, you can send the offending e-mail and its header to the FTC at uce@ftc.gov. The FTC is tracking and actively taking action against spammers as a result of these reports.