Frequently Asked Questions about Junk Email and the Postini
Email Filter
You may wish to print these instructions for easy reference.
What is spam?
Spam refers to unsolicited email that you did not request. These
include emails with pornographic content, advertisements for
products (such as viagra, printer cartridges, free software) or
services (such as weight loss, online dating, home loans), get rich
quick schemes, etc.
Why am I getting all of this junk
email?
Spammers send out bulk email to hundreds of thousands of
individuals at a time because it is very inexpensive for them.
Since it is so cheap, they don't care if it is delivered to people
who didn't request it and can't even use their product. There are
at least 3 things which increase your chance of getting spam.
The biggest way is entering your email address on a website.
This could be when you are downloading a "free" anti-virus program
or game, logging into a chat room, registering for a prize or
vacation, or ordering a product. Most of the large respectable
companies on the Internet will not sell your email address to junk
email lists. Many other companies do however so it is important to
read the entire page and any privacy/license agreements on websites
or chat rooms before entering your email address. It only takes one
time for your address to get sold on a mailing list.
Another thing which will increase your chance of getting spam
is if you ever click on the unsubscribe or remove links on a spam
message. A spam message will usually have a link at the bottom of
the email which says you can be removed from their list by clicking
the link. 99% of the time, this makes the problem much worse as it
confirms to them that your email address is active. Clicking on
links from spam emails can also allow spyware or viruses to be
installed on your machine.
You may have a common name in your email address. For example,
bob@c-gate.net is much more likely to get spam than
bob1234@c-gate.net since the username is much more common. Spammers
have lists of common names and automatically try to send junk email
to these names on all systems as they frequently exist.
What is Postini?
Postini is Cybergate's new premium junk email filter designed to
block the majority of unsolicited emails, up to 95%.
How much does it cost?
The cost depends on your account and how many addresses you want to
have filtered. You may be able to get the filter free of charge.
Please contact our office for more details.
How do I get the Postini junk email
filter?
Just call us or email us and we will activate it for you. There is
no need to download any software. It can usually be added within an
hour, but please allow at least 24 hours for the filter to be
activated.
How do I login to my Postini Message
Center?
In Internet Explorer, type the following address in the address bar
and press enter: http://login.postini.com.
Once the login page has loaded, type your Cybergate email address
and password. This will be in the form username@c-gate.net. Type
your email address and password in lowercase letters. If you don't
want to have to type the email address and password each time, put
a check in the box which says "Remember my address and password".
Then click "Login" and it will bring you to your Message
Center.
I'm having trouble logging in to Postini.
Why can't I login?
There are several possible reasons.
You have mistyped your email or password
You have capital letters in your password
You may have Outlook Express open and this can sometimes
prevent you from logging in. Close Outlook Express and try
again.
You may have a firewall or Internet security program installed
which is preventing your login. Try disabling any security programs
and try again.
The filter may not have activated yet for your account. Usually
requests for filter activation are processed within an hour of
receipt, but please allow up to 24 hours from the time you sent
your request.
I am still getting spam. What do I
do?
You may need to make the filter more aggressive. This means it will
block more junk email. You can do this by logging into your Message
Center and then clicking the "Junk Email Settings" link at the top
of the page. This page will show aggressiveness levels for each
category of spam. For example, you may want to occasionally receive
some "Special Offers" and may want this set to moderate filtering
(the middle option), but you might want to block all "Sexually
Explicit" emails by clicking the most aggressive option on the far
right. This allows you to control how your email is filtered.
I was expecting a message from someone.
Did Postini block it?
In order to see if Postini has blocked a legitimate message, you
will need to login to your Postini Message Center. If a legitimate
message was blocked, put a check in the checkbox to the far left of
that message and then click "Deliver to Inbox". This will allow you
to download the message as normal. The next step is to add that
user to your Approved Senders list. After clicking the "Deliver"
button, it should bring up a screen which indicates which messages
were delivered to the inbox. Put a check next to each email address
that you never want to have blocked and then click "Continue". This
will add that address to your Approved Senders list and no further
messages from that person should be blocked.
How can I adjust my filter
settings?
Login to your Message Center. Then click the "Junk Email Settings"
link near the top of the screen. That page will allow you to
control how aggressive you want the mail filtered for each
category. Just put a dot in the column indicating how aggressive
you want the filtering to be. For example, if you wanted to block
all sexually explicit emails, you would make sure the far right
button was selected next to that row. Adjust each of the tests
based on your preferences. By selecting the most aggressive
filtering option, you will block the majority of junk mail, but you
run a slightly greater risk of blocking legitimate messages. The
"Approved Senders" list allows you to specify email addresses you
never want to be blocked. To add someone, type their email address
in the first text field in the "Approved Senders" section, and then
click "Save to List". If a message was incorrectly marked as spam,
consider adding that person's email address to the "Approved
Senders" list, and then move the message to your inbox. You may do
that by putting a check in the checkbox to the far left of that
message, and then clicking "Deliver to your inbox".
I have Postini and a junk mail slipped
through.
Have you adjusted the aggressiveness of the filter? If you have
not, click the Junk Email Settings at the top of the page and
select a more aggressive setting. This blocks more junk mail but it
also slightly increases the chance of accidentally blocking
legitimate messages so you may also want to make sure your Approved
Senders list is up to date.
Postini does a great job of blocking junk email but sometimes junk
does slip through. In many cases it takes a few days for the filter
to learn about new junk emails that are circulating. If you wish to
help the Postini team, you may forward junk emails that get through
by forwarding the junk email. It is important to forward them as an
attachment. Right click on the message and go to forward as an
attachment. Then send the message to spam@postini.com.