Barracuda

= Accessing Your Barracuda Spam Inbox =

To access your Barracuda Spam Quarantine Inbox, you have a couple of options:

Open this attachment by double-clicking on it. In this attachment, at the bottom, you will see a sentence that says:
 * Option 1**: In the notification email you receive, there is an attachment called Attach0.html.

“To view your entire quarantine inbox or manage your preferences, click here.”

Click on this link. This will take you to your inbox. From there you can manage your quarantined messages and access your preferences. If it has been too long since you received the notification, the session will have timed out and you will have to log in manually (See option 2)

Username, enter your email address. If you know your password, enter it and click the “Login” button. If you don’t know your password, don’t panic. Here is what you do: After your email address has been entered in Username, click on the button that says “Create New Password”. A password will be emailed to you. When you get the email you can go to the login page and enter the password that you received. You can also go directly into your Quarantine Inbox by clicking on the really long link at the bottom of the email.
 * Option 2**: To log in manually go to http://barracuda.town.brookline.ma.us:8000 For

= Questions and Answers =


 * What is a spam firewall?**

A spam firewall is a single box computing appliance that is set up in front of the email server. It is not just an application such as Symantec or Norton Antivirus that runs on the email server. It is an actual piece of equipment that is installed between the incoming connection and the email server. This appliance receives all the incoming email for the organization and processes it such that only the good email is passed on to the email server.

At the most basic level, a spam firewall blocks unwanted email from entering the network and reaching the email server. This is accomplished using a multi-layered email filtering method.


 * Is Barracuda a good one?**

The Barracuda product is rated one of the top products in the industry. It is currently used by Barnes and Noble, CBS, Forbes, IBM, NASA, and the U.S. Treasury.


 * How does it work?**

The Barracuda spam firewall sits in front of the Email server, accepting all email messages from the Internet. It then scans them for viruses and spam. Allowed messages are then delivered to the server. Each message goes through 10 layers of tests to determine its spam probability.

When the messages are scanned, Barracuda searches not only the sender of the email and the subject line, but also scans and analyzes the entire email content. It actually uses a type of artificial intelligence to look for known spammer patterns, links and techniques.

The system is constantly updating itself as new information comes in. Barracuda also employs a method by which email for each individual is scanned and evaluated against other similar emails received by that user which were previously identified as spam/ not spam.


 * What happens if a message is identified as spam?**

After an email message goes through its 10 layers of tests, the Barracuda SPAM Firewall assigns it a spam probability number. If a message receives the highest spam rating, meaning Barracuda is 100% sure the email message is spam, it will be blocked. Users never see blocked messages so they don't have to waste time sifting through these spam messages.

When Barracuda is suspects, but is not sure a message is spam, it gives the message a slightly lower spam rating and it will quarantine the message. Quarantined messages are saved on the Barracuda firewall for review.

Some messages receive a rating that is high enough to be suspect but not high enough to quarantine. When this happens Barracuda will tag the message by adding "[BULK]" to the subject line and deliver the message to the email system. A good example of an uncertain message might be an email from Amazon. The Barracuda sometimes has a difficult time knowing whether an email from Amazon.com is a receipt of purchase or an advertisement.


 * How effective is this system?**

Since Barracuda was installed in September 2004 it has identified and blocked an average of approximately 20,000 pieces of spam per day. In that same time it has allowed as legitimate email an average of approximately 4,000 per day. The number of messages put into quarantine has been approximately 1,000 per day.

There is no real way to know how many legitimate messages were put into quarantine, but the estimates are that of the total emails processed, less than 1/2 of 1% were these “false positives”, meaning that the Barracuda Spam Firewall has been 99.5% effective in analyzing and blocking spam and viruses.


 * If this is so effective, why do spam emails still get through?**

Because spam is such big business and is so profitable, spammers are always at work trying to find new ways around the firewalls. One such trick involved slightly altering the spelling of a word so that it would not be caught by the system. Viagra, for example would be spelled Viagara or even have letters substituted so that it came through as v1agra, vlagra or v_i_agra.

Every time they come up with a new trick, the system has to learn it and then catch it. It is a never ending battle and these people are very good at it. Remember, they send these emails out by the millions. If only .01% of people read and respond to the product advertised, they make money.


 * What is whitelisting and blacklisting and how does it work?**

Whitelists are lists of email addresses you always want to receive email from. Email that you "whitelist" does not get tested for spam although it will be scanned for viruses. You might, for example, whitelist a company you conduct business with if you want to receive their regular advertisements and not worry about the Barracuda quarantining messages from them.

Conversely, blacklists are lists of email addresses you never want to receive email from. Email that you "blacklist" is automatically blocked whether or not it is spam. On rare occasion, the Barracuda might not catch spam messages from a particular sender. In this case you could blacklist the email sender. Blacklisting is not always effective because not only do many spam senders fake their email address, they will often change their email address after they spam a bunch of people.

= = = Whitelist/ Blacklist =

If an email address is blocked by the Barracuda Spam Filter and you would like for it to come through, you need to add that address to your whitelist. Here is what you do:

1. Log into your Barracuda Spam inbox. http://barracuda.town.brookline.ma.us:8000

2. Click on the "Preferences" tab.

3. Within "Preferences, you will be at the "Whitelist/ Blacklist" tab, if you are not, click on the "Whitelist/ Blacklist" tab.

4. Under the section that says "Allowed Email Addresses and Domains (Whitelist)" Enter the email address you wish to add to your Whitelist and click the "Add" button.

5. If you wish to block (Blacklist) emails from a particular address, you can do it on this page as well. You would do this the same way in the bottom section entitled "Blocked Email Addresses and Domains (Blacklist)".

If you need assistance, please contact the Brookline Help Desk. http://techsupport.town.brookline.ma.us By E-Mail: help_desk@brookline.k12.ma.us By Telephone: 617-879-4357