Barracuda Spam Firewall E-mail is one of our key communication tools within the district, and offensive and inappropriate e-mail messages have become an increasing problem. Because of this, we installed the Barracuda Network Spam Firewall. It will help us deal with these unwanted messages in a much more effective manner. The key benefit of the Barracuda Spam Firewall is the detection, elimination, and filtering of spam. There are three main types of e-mail messages: e-mail messages that we want to receive, e-mail messages that we do not want to receive (spam), and e-mail messages that are suspect. The messages that are identified as spam are automatically blocked, quarantined, tagged, or delivered based on your personal spam filtering preferences. Spam Filtering Categories Filtering Category Definition Blocked messages have been identified as spam. Blocked Messages on your Blacklist Messages with suspicious intent (i.e. phishing, or malicious) Messages that contain viruses. By default, viruses are always blocked. Note: Messages that are blocked and/or contain viruses are automatically blocked and deleted without review or notification. The sender will not be notified of this action. Quarantined Quarantined messages have been identified as possible spam and are being held for you to review and decide what action should be taken. Note: If no action is taken on the quarantined messages then after 30 days they will be deleted. Tagged Tagged messages have been identified as questionable and will be delivered with a Spam notice in the subject line. Delivered Delivered or allowed messages are delivered to your mailbox. Nikki Mastro Information Systems Technician/Trainer 925-552-5039 nmastro@srvusd.net 1
Barracuda Spam Firewall Accounts Automatically created Quarantine Mailbox accounts Manually created Quarantine Mailbox accounts Automatically Created Accounts The first time the Barracuda Spam Firewall quarantines one of your messages a Quarantine Mailbox will automatically be created for you. A quarantine mailbox will not be created until a message is quarantined or you manually create your account. Once a message is quarantined the Spam Firewall will send you a welcoming (greeting) message that explains how to access your Quarantine Mailbox. That message will contain a link to your User Quarantine Account Information. Note: Your entire e-mail address is used for your Quarantine Mailbox username; however, it is important to understand that your Quarantine Mailbox is separate from your normal e-mail account. Link to the quarantine interface. Creating your Account Manually If you don t receive the Greeting Message (none of your messages have been quarantined) you can manually create your Quarantine Mailbox account, so that you can manage your Spam Preferences (Whitelist and Blacklist). Open your browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Fire Fox, etc.) and enter https://barracuda.srvusd.net into the address field. Enter your e-mail username, your e-mail password, and then select your correct domain from the drop down menu. This will create your account and then automatically open to your quarantined mailbox. Nikki Mastro Information Systems Technician/Trainer 925-552-5039 nmastro@srvusd.net 2
Select your appropriate Domain from the drop down list. See the Domain list below for appropriate selection. Domain CHS MVHS SRVHS SRVUSD User Group For CHS Staff and Students For MVHS Staff and Students For SRVHS Staff and Students For all other District Staff Note: If the Security Alert screen appears answer Yes. Nikki Mastro Information Systems Technician/Trainer 925-552-5039 nmastro@srvusd.net 3
Managing Your Quarantine Mailbox Account Managing Individual Messages When the Barracuda Spam Firewall quarantines one of your messages it sends a summary reports to you so that you can review your quarantined message/messages. Review the list and then select Deliver (deliver the message to your inbox), Whitelist (add the sender to your allowable list), or Delete (completely delete each message). Important Note: You cannot read the quarantined message from the summary screen. You must use the Click Here link at the bottom. Do not click here. These titles are not links. Select to deliver, whitelist, or delete quarantined messages. Click the link to access your quarantine interface to set preferences, read your quarantined messages, and classify your messages. At the end of the quarantine summary report there is a link to the quarantine interface where you can set additional preferences and classify messages as either spam or not spam. Nikki Mastro Information Systems Technician/Trainer 925-552-5039 nmastro@srvusd.net 4
Managing your Quarantine Inbox Your Quarantined Inbox displays all of your quarantined messages until you act on them. Actions that can be performed on this page: Action Description Deliver Whitelist Delete Classify as Not Spam Classify as Spam Delivers the selected message to your standard e-mail inbox. Adds the selected message to your whitelist so all future e-mail messages from this sender will not be analyzed for spam but it will be scanned for viruses or banned attachments. Deletes the select message from your quarantined list and the message will not be delivered. Classifies the selected message as not spam. This selection teaches the Barracuda server to make better decisions in the future with respect to handling Spam. Classifies the selected message as spam. This selection teaches the Barracuda server to make better decisions in the future with respect to handling Spam. Nikki Mastro Information Systems Technician/Trainer 925-552-5039 nmastro@srvusd.net 5
Preferences We configured the Barracuda with a basic set of spam detecting policies and you can further set your own preferences. The Barracuda Spam Firewall has a learning engine that learns how to deal with future messages based on the ones that you classify as spam and not spam. The learning engine becomes more effective over time. List Type Description Whitelist The list of e-mail addresses that you wish to receive messages from. Note: The only time that the Barracuda Spam Firewall blocks a message from someone on your Whitelist is when the message contains a virus or a disallowed attachment. Blacklist The list of senders from whom you never want to receive messages. The Barracuda Spam Firewall immediately discards messages from senders on your blacklist. These messages are not tagged or quarantined and cannot be recovered. Note: Currently blocked: PIF SCR VBS Be sure to Log Off when you are done. Enter the complete address that you want to receive messages from and then press Add. Enter the complete address that you do not want to receive messages from and then press Add. Note: The Barracuda Spam Firewall will reduce Spam on an ongoing basis but periodically new instances of Spam will get through so please delete it or Blacklist it. Nikki Mastro Information Systems Technician/Trainer 925-552-5039 nmastro@srvusd.net 6
References Barracuda Networks. 2005. Barracuda Spam Firewall User s Guide. Page 3-10 Computer Communications Limited. 2006. Barracuda Networks Spam Firewall spam blocker/e-mail filter. Barracuda Spam Firewall. http://www.ccl.co.uk/barracuda.html The University of South Dakota. 2006. Spam Quarantine Mailbox Use. How do I use the Spam Firewall?. http://www.usd.edu/charlie/faqs/spam_firewall.cfm Nikki Mastro Information Systems Technician/Trainer 925-552-5039 nmastro@srvusd.net 7