CLOUDMARK BENEFITS

  • more than 98% accurate against email abuse
  • stop email-borne viruses before they infect your computer-faster than other virus-blocking services
  • avoid identity theft, fraud, and other phishing scams
  • automatically move spam from your In box into a separate folder
  • never miss a legitimate message
  • free 15-day trial
  • upgrades are always free

 

 

 

 

Anti-Spam

Lucas Valley Cable has two tools available for fighting unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE), commonly called "spam." You can control the server's spam feature by logging into iManager's Mail page for a given account and using the links in the left column. You can send spam to a separate folder on the server and adjust the threshold of the spam detection software, but if you do this you must remember to clear the spam folder frequently because the contents of all folders you create in iManager count against the total quota for that account. All spam folders are cleared automatically on the first and 15th of each month, so if you worry that valid messages may have ended up in your spam folder, you need to check the folder at least before those dates.

Spam tagging software is active on both the lucasvalley.net and lvha.net servers. While spam tagging will catch a lot of spam, it will not tag all spam and will occasional tag legitimate messages if they contain characteristics that resemble spam.

You can also use iManager to place spam into a separate folder on the server. Log into iManager's Mail Manager page and enable your spam folder by clicking the View/Edit Spam Filters link in the left column. Spam tagging persists whether you enable filters or not, but if you do enable filters, you may use a separate link to cause detected spam to be saved in a spam folder. You can view that folder by clicking on Junk Mail in the Folder List. If you choose to do that, be sure to view that list frequently as accumlated spam counts against your mail quota; incoming mail is returned when the quota is full. All spam folders are automaticlly deleted on the 1st and 15th of each month.

For customers who want the very best spam fighting tool available, we recommend Cloudmark Desktop.

Spam Tagging

You can set your mail client to treat suspicious e-mails differently by setting up a rule to test the e-mail header. The tagging software will add several lines to the header, for example:

X-Spam-Flag: YES X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.1.8 (2007-02-13) on lucasvalley.net
X-Spam-Level: **************
X-Spam-Status: Yes, score=14.7 required=5.0 tests=DATE_IN_FUTURE_06_12, RCVD_IN_BL_SPAMCOP_NET,RCVD_IN_NJABL_DUL,RCVD_IN_XBL,URIBL_JP_SURBL, URIBL_OB_SURBL,URIBL_SBL autolearn=spam version=3.1.8

By setting a rule in your mail client to look for asterisks in the X-Spam-Level header, for example, you can set the sensitivity of the mail processing by how many asterisks are present -- the more asterisks, the greater the probability that the message is spam. So a rule that look for ***** will react to messages tagged with five or more asterisks. For help with adding anti-spam mail rules, click here.

In cases where a message is almost certainly spam, the tagging software will substitute its own text for the message, leaving the original message as an attachment. The message will provide a preview of the original message text and a list of reasons as to why the message was deemed to be spam. Example:

Spam detection software, running on the system "lucasvalley.net", has identified this incoming email as possible spam. The original message has been attached to this so you can view it (if it isn't spam) or label similar future email. If you have any questions, see The administrator of that system for details.

Content preview: The consensus is that Anatrim can take up to 1 to 2 weeks to kick in. In fact, we're so sure of your success that we are offering all of our customers a risk-free guarantee up to six months. http://www.modet.hk [...] 
Content analysis details: (14.7 points, 5.0 required)
    pts rule name              description
   ---- ---------------------- ---------------------------------
   1.5 DATE_IN_FUTURE_06_12 Date: is 6 to 12 hours after
Received: date
   1.3 RCVD_IN_BL_SPAMCOP_NET RBL: Received via a relay in
bl.spamcop.net
   [Blocked - see <http://www.spamcop.net/bl.shtml?58.142.37.38>]
   3.1 RCVD_IN_XBL RBL: Received via a relay in Spamhaus XBL
   [58.142.37.38 listed in sbl-xbl.spamhaus.org]
   1.7 RCVD_IN_NJABL_DUL RBL: NJABL: dialup sender did non-local
SMTP [58.142.37.38 listed in combined.njabl.org]
   1.1 URIBL_SBL Contains an URL listed in the SBL blocklist
   [URIs: modet.hk]
   3.4 URIBL_JP_SURBL Contains an URL listed in the JP SURBL
blocklist [URIs: modet.hk]
   2.6 URIBL_OB_SURBL Contains an URL listed in the OB SURBL
blocklist [URIs: modet.hk]

The Cloudmark Desktop

Lucas Valley Cable recommends the Cloudmark Desktop for the most accurate elimination spam. This product is well known for its ability to eliminate unwanted e-mail without also eliminating subscribed newsletters and other desirable e-mail.

You must be using a computer running Windows XP or later and either Outlook or Outlook Express to use the Cloudmark desktop.

This product comes with a 15-day free trial, so you can download and install it risk-free and see how works before purchasing it. If you are not happy with the program, simply use the "Add and Remove Programs" feature of your Control Panel to remove it. If you wish to keep it, send an e-mail to support@lucasvalley.net and we will send you an activation key that you can enter into Cloudmark. We offer the Cloudmark Desktop of $38.95 per year, which we will add to your Cable bill. This is a slight discount from retail, and for this reason we only sell the product to Lucas Valley Cable customers.

To try out Cloudmark, click through to the following web address and select the correct version (Outlook or Outlook Express): http://www.cloudmark.com/desktop/download/update/

Run the Cloudmark Desktop installation program and then start your mail program.

Installing the Activation Key

To obtain the discounted key from Lucas Valley Cable, request an activation key from support@lucasvalley.net. We will supply you with the activation key by return e-mail. Then follow the following steps:

  1. Download the trial program as instructed above.
  2. Start your mail program.
  3. Select "Subscribe now"! located on the Cloudmark toolbar pull-down menu in your mail program.
  4. Click on the button that says, "Yes, subscribe!"
  5. Enter you name, e-mail address (twice) and a password of your choosing. (The password allows you to log into MyCloudmark in the future).
  6. Enter your activation code by copying it from our e-mail to the clipboard and then pasting it into the appropriate space. Then click the Purchase button. A dialog box indicating that your subscription has been successfully activated will appear. Click Done.
  7. Restart your mail program. NOTE: Your subscription begins on the day that you activate it.