Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 19:16:08 -0500 (EST) From: BCPL.NET SysAdmin To: BCPL.NET News Subject: BCPL.NET NEWS: New BCPL.NET Anti-Spam & Anti-Virus Firewall -------------------------------------------- NEW BCPL.NET ANTI-SPAM & ANTI-VIRUS FIREWALL -------------------------------------------- We have taken delivery of a Barracuda 400 anti-spam and anti-virus firewall, and will put it into use on a trial basis at about 8:00 AM on Wednesday, January 12th. The Barracuda sits between the Internet and our mail server, pre-processing all incoming e-mail before relaying it on to the mail server. For the first week or so of operation we will be using it at a fairly basic level. Incoming mail identified by the Barracuda as virus e-mail will be blocked before it can reach the mail server. Incoming mail identified as spam will continue to be forwarded to your mailbox on the mail server, but with a "SPAM" tag added to the Subject line. For example, the Subject line of a spam message might look something like this: Subject: [SPAM] Wholesale prices on Vicodin If you see that "SPAM" tag, you'll know that the Barracuda firewall identified the message as spam. You may want to examine "SPAM" tagged messages for a while, until you're satisfied that the Barracuda isn't tagging messages that aren't really spam. That's up to you. No current technology is 100% accurate in identifying virus and spam e-mail, so don't expect miracles. Do not relax your guard! Continue to be on the lookout for suspicious e-mail in your Inbox. Continue to use anti-virus software on your PC, and continue to keep it up to date. The Internet is full of nastiness these days. Regardless of what BCPL.NET tries to do to defend you from them, never forget that you are your own final line of defence against the bad guys. The Barracuda should block most virus e-mail, but some will still slip through. Furthermore, the Barracuda processes only e-mail coming to BCPL.NET from outside. It can't process mail sent by BCPL.NET customers. If a customer's PC is infected, it can still send out infected e-mail. Similarly, you'll probably see some spam e-mail that the Barracuda firewall misses and doesn't tag as spam. You may also find a few messages with the "SPAM" tag that are not really spam. This should improve as we learn to use the Barracuda's various features, and as the Barracuda itself learns from the thousands of e-mail messages it processes every day. We will gradually turn on more advanced features as we become more familiar with the Barracuda, and will use future BCPL.NET News messages to explain what those features are and how they affect your e-mail. Stay tuned for future developments. If you're interested in learning more about the capabilities of the Barracuda 400 spam and virus firewall, visit the Barracuda Networks web site at http://www.barracuda.net Here's hoping this thing works. I'm getting REALLY sick of spam, and I know you are too. Chip -- BCPL.NET INTERNET SERVICES 320 York Road Towson, MD 21204-5179 U.S.A. Web Site: http://www.bcpl.net Who To Contact For What: http://www.bcpl.net/contacts/