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Postini Email Filtering is Here! |
UPDATE 1/5/2002: To login to your personal Postini Message Center click on the following address:
UPDATE 12/21/2001: Check your rea-alp.com or runestone.net email box on approximately December 28th for further information regarding the new email filtering service. We are going to delay the rollout for a couple of days, still targeting the first week in January. We have had many inquiries since announcing the service ("Can I have it right now?!!") and are well aware of how offensive the junk email has become.
After evaluating the service for several weeks, one thing in particular stands out: Checking email is something you can once again do with family or co-workers standing nearby. No need to quickly scan the new messages and delete the junk before someone else sees it! And no more waiting for the junk to download just to waste more time deleting it! Yes, there is the occasional piece of junk mail that slips through but it is usually pretty tame. When it comes to email viruses however, every one we have tried to pass through the filter has been stopped. We like it and think you will too.
Remember: All email addresses that end with @rea-alp.com or @runestone.net will automatically have filtering enabled. If you have a mailbox with us but use it with your own domain name (i.e. someone@my-domain.com) you will have to contact us to make arrangements for filtering to work correctly with your domain name.
Help is on the way! Thanks for your patience. END UPDATE.
Viruses and spam (unsolicited commercial email) received via email are becoming a serious problem. This electronic "junk mail" clogs Internet communication pathways and slows down your Internet service, and viruses can do serious damage to home and business computers. More and more of our customers are tired of the unsolicited, intrusive and often times offensive spam messages they receive every day, and our technical support staff is equally tired of cleaning damaged messages from our customer's mailboxes on the server.
We have performed local virus and spam filtering to various degrees over the years, but the sheer volume of the virus and spam traffic has become overwhelming. We have been asked repeatedly for a more complete ISP based solution to this problem, and after a great deal of research, a commercial virus and spam filtering solution will be deployed on January 1, 2002. On that date, we will begin full scale filtering of all email addressed to an rea-alp.com or runestone.net mailbox for virus and spam content.
Filtering will automatically be enabled for all rea-alp.com and runestone.net mailboxes for a two month trial period, after which a nominal ($1.00) monthly charge will be applied unless you choose to discontinue the filtering service.
If you have a mailbox with us but use it with your own domain name (something other than rea-alp.com or runestone.net) you will not automatically be covered. Please contact us for additional information.
Here's how it works: Every email addressed to an rea-alp.com or runestone.net mailbox will pass through a server which recognizes about 90% of spam and all currently identified viruses. Messages with viruses and those identified as spam are diverted to a quarantine area on the server and ARE NOT DELIVERED TO THE CUSTOMER'S COMPUTER. All other email is delivered to the customer's computer as usual. There are no changes necessary to the configuration of the customer's computer. UPDATE: We have found that with a small change to the customer's email program we can acheive even better results. We will provide additional details when it is time to begin filtering. END UPDATE.
When email is quarantined because of a virus the customer will immediately receive a notification message listing the sender and the subject of the message. When email is quarantined because it has been identified as spam the customer will receive one notification message per week summarizing these messages.
All quarantined messages will be available for review on a password protected personal web site, which you may access at any time. You may then choose, on a group or individual basis, to delete or deliver each piece of quarantined mail. Or, if you choose not to visit your quarantine area, this mail will be automatically deleted after a 14 day period.
Controls will also be available to you on this web site to personalize how the spam filtering is applied to your individual messages. You may specify the type of content you wish to have filtered and the degree of scrutiny or sensitivity each piece of mail receives. There are five content categories and three levels of sensitivity available. The default setting will be to enable virus filtering and all five categories of spam filtering at a medium sensitivity level. You may also block or allow specific email addresses and/or entire domains.
PLEASE NOTE: This solution will provide effective protection from email transmission of a virus through our servers but DOES NOT NECESSARILY REPLACE YOUR LOCAL VIRUS PROTECTION PROGRAM! If you use an alternate email service or chat programs, save files to floppy disks, etc. your computer should still be protected with an UP-TO-DATE VIRUS PROGRAM INSTALLED ON YOUR COMPUTER.
As we approach the launch date more information about this service will be made available on our web site and by email (please watch your rea-alp.com or runestone.net mailbox). Our technical support staff will, of course, be able to help you with any questions. We anticipate that this will be an effective and economical solution to the growing problem of spam and virus infections.
Questions? Comments? Please click here for information about how to contact our support staff.
Thank you!
The Staff and Management,
REA-ALP Internet Services
Runestone Internet Services
This document was last updated on Thursday, January 22, 2004, at 07:12 PM