Spam & Virus - Frequently Asked Questions

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Synopsis

WebValence uses Postini to provide spam and virus filtering services for WebValence-hosted email accounts. Incoming messages containing viruses or spam will be quarantined in your private Postini Message Center and not delivered to your In Box without your permission.

Contents

Getting Started

Where can I find messages that have been quarantined?
How do I access the Postini message center?
How do I get my Postini password?
How can I change my password?
What if I can't log in to my Postini message center?
What if I don't want Postini services?
Will Postini still work if I change my ISP?
Does Postini filtering apply when I send mail or only when I receive it?
How do I customize my Postini settings?
What are the recommended Postini settings?

Security

Why do I need to enable cookies when logging in to my Message Center?
How does Postini handle security?
Do Postini services compromise privacy?

Using Spam and Virus Filtering

What happens to messages that I delete from my Message Center?
What happens to messages that I ask the Message Center to deliver?
How do I deliver multiple messages with one click?
What if I have more than one email address?
What if some of my wanted messages are being quarantined?
What if a lot of junk mail is still getting through to my inbox?
I'm getting unwanted messages that aren't even addressed to me. What can I do?
How do I notify Postini about Spam or Viruses that are being missed?
How do I Approve (white-list) or Block (black-list) Senders?
What if I run out of space in my Approved/Blocked Senders Lists?

Where can I find messages that have been quarantined?

Messages that contain viruses or spam will be quarantined in your private Postini Message Center. To see these messages, you need to login to your Postini messasge center.

Postini Message Center

How do I access the Postini message center?

From the Postini login page https://login.postini.com/. Alternatively, you may log into your webmail account and click on the "Junk Mail" button in the left-hand navigation. If you've forgotten your password, notice that you have the option to reset it.

After logging in, your personal Postini Message Center appears, where you can review messages that Postini has quarantined. Spam messages appear first, under the "Junk" tab, followed by Virus Messages, Delivered Messages, and Trashed Messages. Switch between these using the tabs at top left.

If you have problems with login, notice that the system provides an option to reset your password. If you still have a problem contact support@webvalence.com.

How do I get my Postini password?

WebValence normally sets your password to be the same for both webmail and your Postini message center. If you've forgotten your password, you have the option to reset it at the login screen.

How do I change my Postini password?

Password changes can be initiated online from within the Message Center settings. Just login and click "My Settings" at top right. You may also request a password after a failed login attempt by clicking the "Forgot your Password?" link.

What if I can't log in to my Postini message center?

Try your email account password if you have one. If the password fails, the login page will display instructions for how to reset your password.

What if I don't want Postini services?

Please notify support@webvalence.com if you want to opt out of Postini service. If you decide to opt out of Postini service, then must configure your email program to use an email box. WebValence does NOT support unfiltered mail and forwarding accounts.

Will Postini still work if I change my ISP?

Your Postini account works with your WebValence hosted email address. Changing the ISP which provides your Internet access will not affect your Postini account, but moving your WebValence-hosted web site and Email to another provider will remove your Postini account, unless the new provider also provides Postini.

Does Postini work when I send mail or only when I receive it?

Postini only processes incoming email. Your sent mail is not routed through Postini.

How do I customize my Postini settings?

When logged into the Postini Message center, choose "My Settings" at top right. Here you may update your Junk (Spam) Filter Settings, your Virus Blocking Settings, and your Personal (account) Settings. Use the Junk Settings to increase or decrease spam filters and manage your blocked and approved senders lists.

What are the recommended Postini settings?

We recommend that you set all spam filters to their most aggressive setting and add senders that send spammy messages to your blocked senders list. When you set your filters to their most aggressive, we encourage you to log into Postini on a regular basis to identify any legitmate mail which may have been quarantined. You can select any legitimate message and click "Deliver" to have the message sent to your regular email inbox. Postini will ask you if you'd like to add this sender to your approved sender list so that all mail from this address will bypass the quarantine in the future.

 

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Security Questions

Why do I need to enable cookies when logging into my Message Center?

Cookies identify you so that Postini can present Web pages that reflect your individual Postini settings. Postini does not track any personal information in its cookies or request any personal information through the Message Center—cookies are simply used to ensure you are in control of your email.

How does Postini handle security?

Postini takes the security and privacy of user data seriously.

• Legitimate email is not written to disk on the Postini server.
• Passwords are not stored and are never transmitted in plain text.
• Suspicious email directed to the Message Center is broken up before being written to disk, so only you can access it.
• Postini resources, apart from the web and email processing machines, are not accessible through the public Internet.

To ensure data integrity, Postini has stringent back-up schedules as well as redundant systems for load balancing.

Do Postini services compromise your privacy?

No. Neither Postini employees nor its business partners ever read an end-user's email that is being processed during the course of normal mail delivery. Email is processed behind-the-scenes automatically by software.

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Usage Questions

What happens to messages that I delete from my Message Center?

When messages are removed, they will be transferred to the Trash folder, accessed by clicking the "Trash" tab. Messages in the Trash will be deleted after 3 days. To delete them sooner, select each message to be removed and click "Delete Selected" at the top or bottom of the Trash, or click "Delete All," to empty the Trash. To retrieve a message from the Trash, click "Deliver" at far right. Unless specifically removed, messages will be quarantined for 14 days then deleted for good.

What happens to messages that I ask the Message Center to deliver?

They are delivered directly to your inbox and a copy is placed in the Delivered folder. Postini will ask you if you want to "Approve Selected Senders" to ensure that you will receive all future messages from this sender.

How do I deliver multiple messages with one click?

Mark each of the messages that you want to deliver by checking the corresponding check box, at left. Then use the "Deliver Selected" link near the top right of the page.

What if I have more than one email address?

WebValence will attempt to map all your Webvalence-hosted email addresses to the Message Center to help stop as much junk mail as possible. It conceivable that we may have missed one of your addresses.

You can add additional receiving addresses to the Postini Message Center. From the Message Center page, use the "My Settings" link at top right to reach the "Add Alternate Email Addresess" page. Only Webvalence-hosted email addresses can be filtered by Postini.

What if some of my wanted messages are being quarantined?

Keep checking your quarantine and requesting delivery. Postini will ask you if you want to approve the senders of these messages for good. You can also adjust your junk mail filters to a more lenient setting. The more frequently you check Postini, deliver legitmate messages, trash true junk messages, and approve senders, the better Postini learns to filter your mail.

What if a lot of junk mail is still getting through to my inbox?

Check your Junk Email Settings to make sure that Junk Email Blocking is enabled and that each of the filters are set to Aggressive. See below.

Message Center Junk Email Settings

Consider the suggestions below to maximize your filter effectiveness:

• Increase your junk filter settings. The more aggressive the filter setting, the fewer spam messages will reach your inbox. Please note that the more aggressive the setting, the more often you should visit the Message Center to confirm that legitimate messages are not quarantined. If they are, add those senders or their domains to your Approved Sender list.
• Notice how the junk mail is addressed. Is it addressed to an address that is not your normal address? If so, add these additional email addresses as "alternate addresses" in your Message Center. From the Message Center, choose "My Settings" at top right. Then choose "Add Alternate Email Addresses". One by one, type any full email addresses that are not already listed in the box and select "Add Alias."
• Make sure that none of your email addresses are listed as "Approved Senders." This will allow any spam that is spoofed as coming from your address to bypass the filter. Spoofing your address is a common spam technique.
• Forward spam that reaches your inbox to spam@postini.com, following instructions under How do I notify Postini about Spam or Viruses that are being missed?

I'm getting unwanted messages that aren't even addressed to me. What can I do?

Unfortunately, message To and From Addresses don't always tell the truth. Follow these steps:

1. Find the "Received for address" from the message headers in the unwanted message. If the "Received for Address" is different from the "To Address", it should be located near the end of a multi-line "Received" header. See example below.
2. Add the "Received for address" to your Postini message center. See the additional addresses topic above for help with adding addresses.

Viewing message headers helps in tracking down problems with spam. Viewing message headers is different in various email programs. Ask your email program "Help" menu to search for help with: "Viewing Message Headers".

Here is an example of a spam message headers with a "Received for Address" that differs from the "To Address". The Received for Address is in red to make it easier for you to see.

Return-Path: <trgamm@engro.com>
Received: from [64.18.2.77] (HELO psmtp.com)
by webvalence.com (CommuniGate Pro SMTP 4.1.5)
with SMTP id 1663721 for listsmanager@webvalence.com; Tue, 13 Jun 2006 00:07:00 -0700
Received: from source ([88.101.77.142]) by exprod7mx75.postini.com ([64.18.6.14]) with SMTP;
Tue, 13 Jun 2006 03:02:44 EDT
Received: from 88.101.77.142 by mx-6.engro.com;Tue, 13 Jun 2006 09:02:42 +0100
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2006 09:02:42 +0100
From: "pvkgw edwdqhb" <trgamm@engro.com>
X-Sender: trgamm@engro.com
To: <bogus address@webvalence.com>
Subject: forward specs for H-Y-W-I.PK Through the grapevine. 
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2919.6700
Message-Id: <8280225892.077504-91868599-8085@engro.com> 
MIME-Version: 1.0 
Content-Type: text/plain

H-Y-W-I- Holly w o o d I n t e r m e d i a t e, Inc.
  We Strongly believe in this companies Performance, with its 5th stright day of climb
  see, we told you s

How do I notify Postini about Spam or Viruses that are being missed?

If you've taken all of the actions above, and spam or viruses are still collecting in your email box, you are encouraged to send examples of your spam to Postini engineers. They are constantly evolving their spam detection procedures and may find your input useful.

Procedure for Notifying Postini About Spam:

Send the offending message to spam@postini.com as instructed below:

1. Open a new email message in your Outlook or other email program. Drag a sample spam or virus message from the list view into the new email message. This should create a new email with the offending message as attachments.
   
   
2. Be sure to send the sample message as an attachment. If the sample messages are not sent as attachments, they won't be used, since they will not contain all necessary information, such as internet mail header information.
   
   

What to Expect After Notifying Postini:

• Messages sent to spam@postini.com are collected for evaluation. Postini collects them to get a large representative sample of the spam that is out there. Postini development staff evaluates them and uses them to make adjustments to the filtering engine. Do not expect feedback from Postini regarding the spam submission.
• Mailing spam@postini.com will auto-generate a reply once per week per user. If a user has not been sent an auto-reply within the past week, Postini will send the message informing the user what to expect.
• As with virus scanning, Postini can only react to new spam techniques as they are developed. Postini engineers always work as quickly as possible to update filter heuristics to adjust to different spam patterns. Postini appreciates the patience, time, and effort it takes to submit new messages to spam@postini.com.

How do I Approve or Block Senders?

Messages from Approved Senders are never quarantined. Messages from Blocked Senders are always quarantined.

From your Postini Message Center, choose "My Settings" from top right, then "Approve Senders." Enter full email addresses, one per line, and then click "Update Approved Senders." You can approve email from a whole domain, such as "amazon.com," under approved domains. You may also enter the "To" address of a mailing list to permit messages from any member of that mailing list. To block an address or domain, enter them one per line in the appropriate box under "Blocked Senders."

Message Center Approve Senders

 

 

Message Center Block Senders

What if I run out of space in my Approved/Blocked Senders Lists

The Message Center provides limited space for Approved Senders and Blocked Senders. The limit is 4,000 characters (approx. 100-130 addresses) each for Approved and Blocked Senders.

You can get more mileage from your Approved and Blocked Senders lists by entering only the domain name rather than the complete address. For example, enter "esellers.com" rather than "offers@esellers.com".

Postini also suggests removing older entries from the Blocked Senders because improvements in the junk mail detection may make the blocked senders entry unnecessary.

Contact support@webvalence.com for further help with Approved/Blocked Senders.

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