Anti-Spam Service: Message Voting Feature
Once you have set up your Bayesian filters, you further train the system by setting up message voting. Message voting lets you notify the system when spam manages to slip through into your message box.
Under Preferences: Stream Settings, look for the field that says "Add links to messages to train Bayesian analyzer". From the pulldown menu, select something other than "No"; "Inline" works for most people. "Plain-Separate-Part" will work for Eudora users; this setting may result in other e-mail programs treating the links section as an attachment.
Selecting "Inline" will add a footer similar to the following to every message that reaches your Inbox:
Teach CanIt if this mail (ID 2906878) is spam:
Spam: https://antispam.osu.edu/b.php?c=s&i=2906878&m=d36ae12e5234
Not spam: https://antispam.osu.edu/b.php?c=n&i=2906878&m=d36ae12e5234
Forget vote: https://antispam.osu.edu/b.php?c=f&i=2906878&m=d36ae12e5234
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END-ANTISPAM-VOTING-LINKS
If the message is spam, click on the Spam link, which will take you to a page in the online Antispam Filter. Depending on your email program and web browser settings, you may have to log in again even if you're already logged in. Unauthenticated voting is not allowed.
On the page you're taken to, click the "Spam" button to "vote" on the message as being spam. This helps train and refine the system.
If you change your mind later, you can click on "Not Spam"; if you're uncertain as to whether you want to use the message to train the filter at all, click on "Forget Training".
Messages remain in the system and can be voted on for TWO days after they are received. After two days, the message is removed from the system and you will no longer be able to vote - trying to do so will result in a No message with specified ID and magic found error.
Note on Voting Links: If the main Anti-Spam server must be taken offline for maintenance, a secondary server will be used that will change the URL of the voting links. Two of the alternate servers are defangb2.it.ohio-state.edu and defang1.net.ohio-state.edu. As long as you see osu.edu or ohio-state.edu as the end portion of the domain, the change in URL does not represent a security threat.
If you do not have Bayesian training links, you can "manually" train the Bayes engine as follows:
- In your mail reader, view all of the message headers. The way you do this depends on the software you use to read mail.
- Look for a header that looks like this:
X-Canit-Stats-ID: number - hex string
The number is a decimal number, and the hex string is a string of numbers and letters. The number is the Stats ID, and the hex string is the “Magic” value. - Log into antispam.osu.edu
- Click on "Rules" and then "Vote".
- Enter the Stats ID and the Magic calue in the appropriate entry boxes.
- Click on Spam, Non-spam or Forget to train the Bayes engine appropriately.
Current Record: 2651
Create Date: 08-12-2005
Last Reviewed: 04-30-2007
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