Overview of spam filtering at Illinois State University
The spam filtering system at Illinois State detects incoming spam and delivers suspected spam to your Junk folder.
Spam Filtering System
All incoming email is scanned by Illinois State's spam filtering system. The system evaluates incoming messages and assigns them to one of three categories.
- Legitimate email
- Suspected spam
- Definitely spam
The spam filtering system handles each type of email differently.
- Legitimate emails are delivered to your Inbox.
- Emails that are suspected of being spam are delivered to your junk folder
- Emails that are definitely spam are blocked.
The spam filtering system provides spam protection to both the central mail server, mail.ilstu.edu, and Exchange.
Junk Folder
The spam filtering system will place emails that are suspected of being spam in your junk folder.
If you use the central mail server, suspected spam is placed in a folder named Junk. If you do not have a Junk folder, the spam filtering system will automatically create one the next time it needs to deliver suspected spam to you.
If you use Exchange for email, suspected spam is placed in a folder named Junk E-mail. All Exchange accounts include a folder named Junk E-mail.
You may want to periodically check your junk folder to see if it contains any messages you want to read.
Accessing Your Junk Folder
If you use the central mail server, you can view your Junk folder in RedbirdMail, iCampus, or by using an email client like Thunderbird or Outlook.
If you use Exchange for email, you can view your Junk E-mail folder in Outlook Web App (OWA) or by using a client like Outlook.
Your junk folder appears along with your other folders. It might appear at the top of the folder list near your Inbox and other important folders, or it might appear lower in the list, alphabetically.
Subject Line is Tagged: [SPAM_ISU]
Emails which are suspected of being spam will have [SPAM_ISU] placed in their subject lines. This allows you to identify emails that were placed in your junk folder by the spam filtering system at Illinois State, as opposed to another anti-spam mechanism.
Automatic Removal of Deleted Email and Spam Email
To help you manage unwanted messages, old, deleted emails and spam emails are automatically removed from your account every 30 days. This applies to both the central mail server and Exchange.
Email Forwarding
If you have your ilstu.edu email forwarded to a third-party email address (like Gmail or Hotmail), you should note that suspected spam is held in the Junk folder on the central mail server, mail.ilstu.edu, rather than being forwarded. You can access your Junk folder through RedbirdMail or iCampus.
Questions
If you have questions about the spam filtering system and how it applies to you, please contact the University Computer Help Desk.