ICIT uses a new set of products to provide anti-spam and anti-virus protection for all email accounts ending with '@hunter.cuny.edu'. Client email settings remain the same and no special configuration is necessary. This new architecture retains the label of 'HC Mailguard'.

Delivery to the user

All messages accepted by HC Mailguard will be given a spam score. Messages with a minimal spam score will be delivered to the Inbox. Suspect spam messages will be quarantined in a special folder on the server called 'Junk Mail'. The user can review, read and act on any mail delivered to the Junk Mail folder using Webmail. Reviewing and moving messages can also be done using an IMAP email client.

To manage Junk mail:

• The Junk Mail folder is on the server and accessible through Webmail or as an IMAP folder in a desktop email client. (IMAP client configuration for Hunter email)
• To move a junk mail message to the inbox using Webmail, check the box in the folder listing as shown below, then click the 'Move' button to move the message.
  
  Move mail from Junk to Inbox by checking the box and using the Move options above
  
  In a desktop email clients configured for IMAP, messages can be moved by drag-and-drop.
• [If a message was erroneously marked as suspect spam, it can be reported by clicking a link or button in the Webmail display of the message.
• Junk mail older than 7 days will be removed permanently.

To provide feedback on erroneous spam/not-spam scoring:

Within Webmail, all messages will be shown with a link or button to indicate 'This is Spam' (or if in Junk mail folder, 'This is Not Spam'). You can click this link or button to provide feedback to the anti-spam vendor, but this action will have no immediate effect on spam scoring of specific emails. If you have specific emails that require investigation please forward those messages to hc.email@hunter.cuny.edu

[Read more on end-user options]

Mailguard process before delivery to the user

Incoming email is subject to a multi-stage process before delivery to the user. Messages that are from non-spam sources, below a specific spam score and free of known viruses will be delivered. This is a general description of the pre-delivery process:

1. Sending sources are checked against special databases before any email is accepted;
2. Known spam or email from sources that are known spam sources will not be accepted;
3. Email accepted by Mailguard will be scanned for viruses and given a spam score;
4. Attachments in email with viruses will be stripped from the message, and some filetypes are disallowed (see 'Automatic protection against spam and virus outbreaks' below);
5. Email containing attachments that closely match a viral signature will be quarantined for a period of time (see 'Automatic protection against spam and virus outbreaks' below).

Email which passes through the above process successfully will be delivered immediately.

[Read more about how spam is intercepted...]

User-managed whitelists, blacklists and filters

Allowed senders, Blocked senders and preferences for the default Junk Mail filter are set from within Webmail, under Options > Junk Mail Control.

[Read more about what these mean...]

Automatic protection against spam and virus outbreaks

In order to blunt or avert new spam or viral email campaigns, the revised Mailguard process implements new features in a package called "MailHurdle". Important features of MailHurdle are:

• The first time an email is sent from a particular external email to an specific Hunter address, the sending server is told to try later. Legitimate email servers will retry but spammers won't.
• A quarantine period for email with attachments that closely match known virus signatures fto let virus signatures catch up with an outbreak. After a clear check on rescan the email will be released.
• Certain filetypes that are too widely abused for malware and viral attachments.

[Read more about MailHurdle]

Other Questions about Mailguard

[See Mailguard FAQs]

If many of your legitimate messages are being flagged as spam or if certain features are incompatible with your system(s), please visit our Mailguard FAQs or contact us as follows:

• Faculty and Staff: please contact the Faculty and Staff Help Desk at x. 14357 or by email at helpdesk@hunter.cuny.edu.
• Students: please contact the SNet Help Desk at x. 13624 or by email at studenthelpdesk@hunter.cuny.edu.