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NAG has asked that we give a heads-up when we send mailings related to computing at MSU to MSU's Deans, Directors, and Chairs (DDC) list. The following mailing from Tom Davis, director of ACNS, will go to DDC soon. Edward Kryda Email Team Leader mail.msu.edu ======================================================================= To: Deans, Directors, and Chairs Subject: New spam-fighting technique for mail.msu.edu Unsolicited commercial e-mail, or spam, annoys us all and inhibits our productivity. Industry experts estimate that at least 80% of all Internet e-mail is now spam. Mail.msu.edu processes up to four million messages per day, blocking about half as spam. To combat this problem, the ACNS mail team will add a new feature to mail.msu.edu on March 7, a technique called "greylisting." Rather than attempting to identify spam based on the content of the message, greylisting blocks spam based on the behavior of the remote e-mail server. When first installed, greylisting will introduce a temporary delay in the receipt of incoming e-mail (as it "learns" which remote e-mail servers can be trusted). Delays will be as little as 5 minutes to as much as a few hours, depending on the configuration of the sender's e-mail server. These delays will fade within a day or so. Greylisting is another tool to fight the scourge of spam. Our existing spam techniques have strained our mail servers and introduced e-mail delays due to the sheer volume of messages being processed. We expect the implementation of greylisting to improve this situation. The ACNS mail team will carefully monitor the performance of this new procedure. If you note any problems or have questions, contact the ACNS Help Desk at (517) 432-6200. For more information, please visit: http://techbase.msu.edu/viewpathfinder.asp?id=7772&service=help Tom Davis, Director Academic Computing and Network Services