What is DSPAM?

For the majority of our email users our free anti-spam software, Spamassasin, adequately protects their inboxes from receiving spam.   In addition to greylisting our Spamassassin servers scan all incoming messages for spammy words, images, blacklisted IP's (using Spamhaus) and real-time URL blacklists (using URIBL) and rejects spam emails.  However, for a small percentage of our users this isn't enough and in those cases we provide Advanced Spam filtering (DSPAM).

Here's what you need to know about DSPAM:

  • DSPAM is incredibly effective at classifying spam as it builds a personalized anti-spam database and applies machine learning for each email user that uses it.
  • Since this is server-side filtering it works across all of your devices. However, in order to achieve this DSPAM only works with IMAP email accounts and does not work with POP email.  All email programs can be configured as IMAP and nearly all mobile phones use IMAP by default.  Brownrice Webmail uses IMAP.  If would like to convert from a POP account to an IMAP account you can do so by following these instructions.
  • DSPAM must be trained by you in order for it to be effective - which takes a few minutes per day at first and just a few seconds per day after DSPAM is trained.
  • DSPAM costs $1 per month!  (i.e.  Its not free.  Its costs a buck per month!)   Whomever is responsible for paying your hosting bill will be paying the $1.00 per month - so check with them before clicking the sign up checkbox!
  • DSPAM does NOT work with Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2016. New versions of Outlook strip message headers from email when messages are moved from folder to folder (so wrong, so bad!) This Outlook behaviour removes DSPAM header information which effectively disables server-side spam filtering.

And its very easy to sign up!  Just login here http://admin.brownrice.com with your email username, domain name, and password then scroll to the bottom of the page and check the box next this: 

 

Enable Advanced Spam Detection and Learning?: [ ] <<<< Check this box.

 

Next:   How do I train DSPAM?

You cannot comment on this entry