IU to combat spam on servers

IU is planning to spend $300,000 in the coming months on a new software program that will combat spam e-mails on the IU server.\nUniversity Information Technology Services will implement the "Pure Message" anti-spam system by February 2004 that will block spam messages from being sent to IU e-mail accounts.\nSpam constitutes 60 percent of the messages that enter the IU server, which can clog people's inbox quotas and slow down services like Webmail, Associate Vice President of Telecommunications Brian Voss said. \nIU has decided to pursue an anti-spam program primarily because unwanted e-mail is the number one complaint at UITS, Voss said. \nThe program will save IU money in the long run, he said, because the software will greatly decrease the chance of a virus entering the server, which costs UITS money for virus infection clean-ups and disinfectant software.\nHowever, some people have questioned the effectiveness of anti-spam software, because the program might filter out wanted messages. \nVoss said this program might ease such fears because of the way "Pure Message" works.\nHe said the anti-spam software will look for likely spam indicators in each e-mail message that enters the IU server. Spam indicators can be a number of different things, such as messages in all caps or messages that contain key words like "save money" or "Viagra." \nThe software will then tally up a score for each message. If the message scores 50 percent or higher, it will be deemed as "spam" and sent to an e-mail quarantine. \n"The system will send you a note at the end of the day, saying 'here's the list of all the messages I thought were spam,'" Voss said. \nThis way, a user can look at one e-mail containing multiple messages. If a wanted message was deemed spam, the user can then reply to the quarantine and indicate to it which messages the user would like to receive. This way, important e-mails that may contain indicators will not be lost.\nVoss said the program will be available to all IU server users. He said instead of distributing the software to everyone, users must subscribe to the service because there have been some concerns about spam and free speech.\n"We have a Web site to go to where you can read about what the filter does and how it works," Voss said, "and you can decide whether or not you want to participate. We can't unilaterally use it on everyone, but individual users can exercise their rights."\nHowever, funding for the new program has not yet been secured. The estimated $300,000 price tag will come from existing funds in the University budget and will not raise any fees, Voss said.\n"This figure is what we hope to spend," he said.\nSophomore Chelsea Stroup said she doesn't receive much spam in her inbox because she doesn't give out her IU e-mail address often. However, Stroup said she deletes all her spam before ever opening the message.\nShe said while she likes the idea of less spam, she doesn't like the idea of her e-mail being monitored.\n"It's intrusive to my privacy because they are monitoring what you're receiving," she said. "It's none of their business."\nSophomore Stephanie Potakis said she would also feel uncomfortable with a system that reads all your e-mail, but at the same time, hates the spam e-mail she receives each day.\n"It's the most annoying thing of my life," Potakis said.\nVoss said the system is currently being tested and will most likely be up and running through the entire IU server by February 2004.\n-- Contact Nation & World editor Christina Galoozis at cgaloozi@indiana.edu.