Mailing List Archive: SpamAssassin: users

New to Spamassassin. Have a few ?s...

Index | Next | Previous | View Threaded

gledford at phhw

Nov 8, 2009, 7:30 PM

Post #1 of 8 (621 views)
Permalink

New to Spamassassin. Have a few ?s...

I'm looking into a free spam filter that can do the following. Will
Spamassassin do these things?

1) Will it filter multiple domains so I can filter for many different
companies?
2) Will it send individual users an email once a day (for example) to inform
them of the spam that was captured in case they were not actually spam?
3) Will it allow users to add people to an individual whitelist so they can
handle their own spam settings?
4) I understand it connects in to ClamAV using a plugin. How easy is it to
install the plugin so I can also scan for viruses for folks?

Thanks for any help. I don't want to spend a fortune on a spam filter if I
can find a free filter that will do everything I would need.
--
View this message in context: http://old.nabble.com/New-to-Spamassassin.-Have-a-few--s...-tp26260803p26260803.html
Sent from the SpamAssassin - Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

mkettler_sa at verizon

Nov 8, 2009, 8:27 PM

Post #2 of 8 (583 views)
Permalink

Re: New to Spamassassin. Have a few ?s... [In reply to]

Computerflake wrote:
> I'm looking into a free spam filter that can do the following. Will
> Spamassassin do these things?
>
> 1) Will it filter multiple domains so I can filter for many different
> companies?
>
Sure. Depending on how you set it up, you can even have per-domain
customization of the whole ruleset.
> 2) Will it send individual users an email once a day (for example) to inform
> them of the spam that was captured in case they were not actually spam?
>
Directly? No.. SpamAssassin, by itself, is really just a scanning engine
with header modification abilities. It does not do email management,
quarantines, etc at all. It receives a message, evaluates it, and
modifies it based on the results, nothing more, nothing less. (this is
done to make SA flexible.. it's a mail pipe, so you can glue it into
almost anything.)

Generally matters like this are handled by integration tools such as
MailScanner, amavisd-new, etc, although I do not know of any that
provide comprehensive quarantine management. That said, I've never
desired such, so I've not looked at length for one. (I mostly just tag
mail, and let users filter at the client level as they see fit.)

See also:
http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/IntegratedInMta

> 3) Will it allow users to add people to an individual whitelist so they can
> handle their own spam settings?
>
Yes, provided the tools integrate it in a per-user manner.
> 4) I understand it connects in to ClamAV using a plugin. How easy is it to
> install the plugin so I can also scan for viruses for folks?
>
Personally, I'd suggest letting an integration tool call ClamAV and
SpamAssassin independently. The clamav plugin for SA is functional, and
not difficult to set up, but it's not what I would consider an ideal
solution. All it does is cause viruses to show up as a SA rule named
CLAMAV. However, Since SpamAssassin can't drop mail directly, you'll
still need to get an integration tool to detect that marker in the
header and delete the message.
> Thanks for any help. I don't want to spend a fortune on a spam filter if I
> can find a free filter that will do everything I would need.
>

gledford at phhw

Nov 8, 2009, 8:43 PM

Post #3 of 8 (597 views)
Permalink

Re: New to Spamassassin. Have a few ?s... [In reply to]

> Directly? No.. SpamAssassin, by itself, is really just a scanning engine
> with header modification abilities. It does not do email management,
> quarantines, etc at all. It receives a message, evaluates it, and
> modifies it based on the results, nothing more, nothing less. (this is
> done to make SA flexible.. it's a mail pipe, so you can glue it into
> almost anything.)
>
> Generally matters like this are handled by integration tools such as
> MailScanner, amavisd-new, etc, although I do not know of any that
> provide comprehensive quarantine management. That said, I've never
> desired such, so I've not looked at length for one. (I mostly just tag
> mail, and let users filter at the client level as they see fit.)
>
> See also:
> http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/IntegratedInMta
>

Wow. Really? Barracuda and Sonicwall both include this feature and it's one
of the most popular features my clients (who own these products) enjoy. I'll
have to take a look at the products you mentioned. Anyone else have any
experience with these types of functions?
--
View this message in context: http://old.nabble.com/New-to-Spamassassin.-Have-a-few--s...-tp26260803p26261237.html
Sent from the SpamAssassin - Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

aawolfe at gmail

Nov 8, 2009, 8:53 PM

Post #4 of 8 (584 views)
Permalink

Re: New to Spamassassin. Have a few ?s... [In reply to]

On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 11:43 PM, Computerflake <gledford [at] phhw> wrote:
>
>
>
>> Directly? No.. SpamAssassin, by itself, is really just a scanning engine
>> with header modification abilities. It does not do email management,
>> quarantines, etc at all. It receives a message, evaluates it, and
>> modifies it based on the results, nothing more, nothing less. �(this is
>> done to make SA flexible.. it's a mail pipe, so you can glue it into
>> almost anything.)
>>
>> Generally matters like this are handled by integration tools such as
>> MailScanner, amavisd-new, etc, although I do not know of any that
>> provide comprehensive quarantine management. That said, I've never
>> desired such, so I've not looked at length for one. (I mostly just tag
>> mail, and let users filter at the client level as they see fit.)
>>
>> See also:
>> http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/IntegratedInMta
>>
>
> Wow. Really? Barracuda and Sonicwall both include this feature and it's one

You're comparing apples to oranges. SA can be used as one part of a
system that does the same things that those products do. It is not,
by itself, the same thing. Barracuda is to automobile as SA is to
gasoline engine.

> of the most popular features my clients (who own these products) enjoy. I'll
> have to take a look at the products you mentioned. Anyone else have any
> experience with these types of functions?
> --
> View this message in context: http://old.nabble.com/New-to-Spamassassin.-Have-a-few--s...-tp26260803p26261237.html
> Sent from the SpamAssassin - Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>
>

kurt.buff at gmail

Nov 8, 2009, 8:55 PM

Post #5 of 8 (584 views)
Permalink

Re: New to Spamassassin. Have a few ?s... [In reply to]

On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 19:30, Computerflake <gledford [at] phhw> wrote:
>
> I'm looking into a free spam filter that can do the following. Will
> Spamassassin do these things?
>
> 1) Will it filter multiple domains so I can filter for many different
> companies?
> 2) Will it send individual users an email once a day (for example) to inform
> them of the spam that was captured in case they were not actually spam?
> 3) Will it allow users to add people to an individual whitelist so they can
> handle their own spam settings?
> 4) I understand it connects in to ClamAV using a plugin. How easy is it to
> install the plugin so I can also scan for viruses for folks?
>
> Thanks for any help. I don't want to spend a fortune on a spam filter if I
> can find a free filter that will do everything I would need.

Try this:

http://www.maiamailguard.com

Kurt

ajcartmell at fonant

Nov 9, 2009, 4:06 AM

Post #6 of 8 (582 views)
Permalink

Re: New to Spamassassin. Have a few ?s... [In reply to]

> Generally matters like this are handled by integration tools such as
> MailScanner, amavisd-new, etc, although I do not know of any that
> provide comprehensive quarantine management. That said, I've never
> desired such, so I've not looked at length for one. (I mostly just tag
> mail, and let users filter at the client level as they see fit.)

The (slightly-dormant) MailWatch project integrates with MailScanner and
SpamAssassin to add quarantine notifications, management, message release,
etc. It stores message information in MySQL which you can query to find
interesting things.

Anthony
--
www.fonant.com - Quality web sites
Fonant Ltd is registered in England and Wales, company No. 7006596
Registered office: Grafton Lodge, 15 Grafton Road, Worthing, West Sussex,
BN11 1QR

kremels at kreme

Nov 9, 2009, 9:04 AM

Post #7 of 8 (574 views)
Permalink

Re: New to Spamassassin. Have a few ?s... [In reply to]

On 8-Nov-2009, at 20:30, Computerflake wrote:
> 1) Will it filter multiple domains so I can filter for many different
> companies?

No. SpamAssassin does not filter mail. It marks mail that is suspected
of being spam.

> 2) Will it send individual users an email

No.

> 3) Will it allow users to add people to an individual whitelist so
> they can
> handle their own spam settings?

If the users have shell access to change their user_prefs file or if
you implement some other mechanism. However, this is generally
unnecessary as long as you provide a method for learning messages as
ham that were miss-tagged as spam.

> Thanks for any help. I don't want to spend a fortune on a spam
> filter if I
> can find a free filter that will do everything I would need.

You can spend as much as you want and never find a spam solution any
better than SA. In fact, almost all the 'solutions' you would buy are
actually SpamAssassin at their core.

--
Because you can't cotton to evil. No Sir. You have to smack evil
on the nose with the rolled-up newspaper of justice and say,
'Bad evil. Bad BAD evil'"

gledford at phhw

Nov 9, 2009, 9:17 AM

Post #8 of 8 (575 views)
Permalink

Re: New to Spamassassin. Have a few ?s... [In reply to]

Kurt Buff wrote:
>
> On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 19:30, Computerflake <gledford [at] phhw> wrote:
>>
>> I'm looking into a free spam filter that can do the following. Will
>> Spamassassin do these things?
>>
>> 1) Will it filter multiple domains so I can filter for many different
>> companies?
>> 2) Will it send individual users an email once a day (for example) to
>> inform
>> them of the spam that was captured in case they were not actually spam?
>> 3) Will it allow users to add people to an individual whitelist so they
>> can
>> handle their own spam settings?
>> 4) I understand it connects in to ClamAV using a plugin. How easy is it
>> to
>> install the plugin so I can also scan for viruses for folks?
>>
>> Thanks for any help. I don't want to spend a fortune on a spam filter if
>> I
>> can find a free filter that will do everything I would need.
>
> Try this:
>
> http://www.maiamailguard.com
>
> Kurt
>
>

That sounds exactly like what I'm looking for. Thanks for the help!
--
View this message in context: http://old.nabble.com/New-to-Spamassassin.-Have-a-few--s...-tp26260803p26270113.html
Sent from the SpamAssassin - Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

Index | Next | Previous | View Threaded

Interested in having your list archived? Contact Gossamer Threads