On Dec. 1, 2013, ITS updated the anti-spam software that blocks spam and known viruses sent to NIU email addresses.
ITS uses CanIt-Pro to scan messages sent to NIU mailboxes for common indicators of spam and viruses.
This is a completely automated process; there is no human intervention. Meanwhile, no spam blocking solution is 100 percent effective.
The CanIt filters are updated nightly to recognize the latest spam indicators. However, spammers also constantly change their methods to circumvent filters, which is why some spam still gets through.
During a single week in November 2013, CanIt allowed 521,628 “non-spam” emails. It blocked 495,630 emails it considered to be spam, as well as a few thousand more for other problems such as viruses.
ITS also uses a Domain Name Service Blackhole List (DNSBL) of networks associated with sending spam. The DNSBL service blocks an average of 273,600 emails per day that never make it to the CanIt spam filter.
