I actually brought this up once and I believe it was in the old forums so I can't link to it (either that or "My Activity" is capped to only go back to 2015) but even disabling users ability to override their weights, they don't sync to what the server has set.

 

It was acknowledged but nothing ever came of it

Another part of this. If you have Custom Rules setup and they get triggered the score doesn't appear to be added to the total Span Score. Also if you have a gateway that does testing and it passes the score to the mail server it gets ignored.

In general settings, you as Admin can determine if the users can over-ride the spam settings or not.

As for the gateway passing score's and getting ignored... in the latest release - that is no longer the case.

 

As for if the user's were originally allowed to over-ride the settings.. how do they "sync back"; I can not speak to that.

I've always had issues with spam using SmarterMail with regards to Spam its one of the areas that really lets a great bit of software down, so much so that one of my large clients has gone away and installed their own Exchange server (probably no better, but its a lost client because of it).

 

I'm not a large enough company to subscribe to some of the extortionate systems that claim to clear your mailboxes up before they get to your server, so i'm stuck with a very poorly documented system that doesn't really seem to work.

 

I still get 100's of spam emails a day and the spam checks (around 60!) I have on catch real emails as well as spam ones, so really its not that effective. You certainly couldn't set it to delete what it thinks is spam. So you end up trawling through all the spam to see if there are any real ones in there, so you may as well have them all come in to the main mailbox, at least you'll see them all when you should.

 

I don't know what the answer is but other companies allegedly "seem" to be able to provide an effective anti-spam solution.

 

I have since discovered that if you have a domain set to have the ability to override the spam settings, this will keep all the weights that are set for that domain (which is fine, this was the case with the domain I was looking at earlier). But you need to be aware that if you make any changes to your global anti-spam settings, the domains that have the ability to override spam settings won't receive any of your changes.

What helped me, I sometimes look at the header of passing spam, I look up the originating IP number of the spam on a blacklist monitor.

Often I see that the number is blacklisted on various blacklists. Then I investigate if and how I can use these blacklists services and then I add it to my spam checking list. This way I have a longer list of spam checks.

I also use message sniffer.

If I think a dnsrbl is a bit less used I just add it with just a few points to add to the weight.

When you use only the SmarterMail weights, and my anti-spam settings, then you will not have anything overriding those settings and will, generally, trap 98% of all the spam messages sent your way.

 

When you introduce external spam filtering, you must be VERY careful NOT to override the SmarterMail spam filter trigger settings, or you will introduce all kinds of issues and problems - and start receiving spam you never dreamed existed.

 

This is why, when SmarterMail 7,0 was introduced, I decided to see what could be done with their internal settings only.

 

Now, with the release of Version 15.X (latest version), their antispam and security has gotten significantly better as a single spam filter.

 

Remember, however, that you MUST be in FULL COMPLIENCE with GOOGLE, YAHOO, COMCAST, and about 14 other large providers or they will deliberately slow down your capability to send to their servers.

 

Remember, you must also setup SPF, DMARC, and rDNS, pointing to your PRIMARY SMARTERMAIL IP ADDRESS and name, as it is registered with your SmarterTools licensing - they WILL check this, and be fully compliant with the.EU and CANADIAN versions of DOUBLE OPT IN and AUTO-OPT OUT for MAILING LISTS.

 

Here are examples of ChicagoNetTech's PRIVACY and ACCEPTABLE USE POLICIES:

Once again, remember, you must also comply with all of the other items:

 

For COMCAST, you must NOT allow clients to connect on port 25,  The only traffic that COMCAST allows on port 25 is MX to MX server traffic.  All traffic between CLIENTS and MX servers MUST be handled by PORT 587, the alternate SMTP port which, while it used to be optional, is now MANDATED by the International Engineering Task Force (IETF). 

 

See: https://customer.xfinity.com/help-and-support/internet/email-port-25-no-longer-supported/

 

See: http://forums.xfinity.com/t5/Email-Web-Browsing/Port-25-no-longer-works-not-using-Comcast-mail-server-have-my/td-p/1612631

 

See: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7672

 

If a client attempts to send directly to port 25, COMCAST will block the connection, via their network, and not notify either the sender or intended receiver.  This has helped them cut spam down by a huge percentage in their systems, giving them data time to send more legitimate messages.

 

Comcast also prefers that all connections are TLS ENCRYPTED to further protect the data and network, but are not, as of yet, blocking based on this.

 

Please, don't shoot me, or attack me, I am only the messenger here!

 

I am awaiting a BETA copy of SmarterMail 16.X so I can re-validate all of the antispam settings, revise the document to include the information for SmarterMail 14.X, 15,X and 16.X - eventually dropping all versions except the current and immediate previous version because there is absolutely no reason not to stay current, take advantage of the new features and benefits, and, especially, to take advantage of the new security developments: eg:

 

 

AGAIN, and I CANNOT REPEAT THIS TOO MANY TIMES:

 

For the built-in SmarterMail antispam to work properly, you MUST enable all of the tools, according to my antispam document, which is in the process of being updated,  I will amend this post with the correct link, and name, when it is ready.

 

FINALLY:

 

I am available to help you configure and monitor your server.   Even though I am a "SmarterTools Product Specialist" I get nothing for the posts and assistance via the SmarterMail portal.

If you require assistance, please send an e-mail to me, via ":support@chicagonettech.com" and I will, at no cost, review with you your issues, providing it goes no longer than ONE HOUR.

 

Everything after that is BILLABLE TIME, and will be billed via PayPal or SQUARE, depending on a variety of factors.  PayPal is much more efficient at handling international monetary changes on-the-fly, and my preferred payment choice for non-US customers.

 

I WILL NOT work with someone who wants me to fix their problem and then "second guesses" the work I have been contracted to do.  This has happened four times in the last month, and they are no longer my clients.  If you want me to help you, ask questions, but stay out of the way.  I will document what has to be done, what I am doing as it is done, and the final changes to your server(s).  I will also maintain a complete BACKUP copy of the original server configuration, in case you want to go back to receiving spam or having the original issues.

Good luck!