Update regarding UAA's new email spam filtering and malware protection system

At the end of May, UAA changed the way it provides email spam filtering and malware protection to UAA email users. Spam is defined as any unwanted email from any source. Malware refers to (unwanted) emails that may contain hidden code designed to cause any number of problems for your computer and private information contained therein. Malware may also take over your computer and use it to launch further infections to other computers, servers, email accounts, etc.

This update is intended to report our experience so far, describe some additional steps taken since the change in May and recap some of the reasons as well as benefits of the change for folks just returning to campuses.

All users experienced some change in the way emails showed up in their inbox and junk folders. Most changes were minor increases in spam that quickly returned to normal levels by blocking senders and/or domains using the instructions on the ITS website. Some users saw less spam, some much more. Also, some users who belong to a large number of associations and mailing lists may see more spam traffic than other users.

As a result of the feedback, ITS discovered some back-door spam pathways that have since been locked down. These pathways were related to the old filter system. ITS has also increased the level of filtering since May, and is about to do so once more in our search for the right balance between blocking and passing email traffic through. Thank you for your patience and feedback during this important change.

If you missed earlier articles about the spam filter change, please take a moment to read the rest of this article for more details, links for help setting your personal spam filter levels and some background about why the change was made.

About the new spam filtering Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is included as part of the Enterprise Client Access License that UAA, UAF and UAS purchase annually to provide access to the familiar Microsoft Office suite of applications for faculty, staff and students. It is a spam and malware filter provided in the cloud and managed conveniently from within your Outlook or other Exchange-compliant email "Junk" folder.

Benefits:

• UAA already owns it. Using it will allow the university to save more than $500,000 over the next three years.
• Familiar interface for most users. Some users who do not check email through Outlook will need additional assistance from ITS to set up and use the filter.
• Comparably effective.

Challenges:

• User-customized filtering set up on the old IronPort by users must be re-created in EOP.
• Standard settings at implementation may allow more spam than usual until administrative settings are dialed in by ITS.
• It is not what we are used to.

Testing has revealed the above benefits and challenges with a high degree of certainty. Some unanticipated challenges and benefits may arise. ITS is poised to respond promptly and keep the user community informed. We thank you for your support.

One final note: Despite reasonable measures, we all see emails from time to time asking us to provide our university usernames, passwords or other personal information to seemingly legitimate groups. In 100 percent of cases, these email requests are so-called phishing exploits, where hackers attempt to obtain personal information for illegal purposes. Giving up your personal information may compromise your credit or banking relationships and can cause major inconveniences for you. Giving up your university username and password can result in significant (although in most cases temporary) harm to UAA's mail system. Please exercise prudence when considering whether an email is a legitimate request for information. Resources to help you spot phishing attempts can be found here.

While the new system is very intuitive and simply part of the existing Outlook "Junk" folder (right-click while hovering over the "Junk" folder icon to view and customize options), additional instructions for using the new system are available on the ITS support website.

For further questions, please email the ITS Call Center at callcenter@uaa.alaska.edu.

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