Spam getting worse?

[Ben]

By using Spam Assassin and email filtering on my main email account on CP15 I've managed to keep spam to a minimum. However, in the last few days it's gone from a couple a day to hundreds! Has anything changed on the server or with CP that would have affected this or have spammers just worked out some new way of getting round Spam Assassin and the filters?

Thanks,
Ben

[mikesm]

I'm seeing the same thing. Virtually no spam to tons that is getting past the filter on the server. I doublechecked to make sure my filter was still activated for my domain, and it is.

Thanks,
Mike

[AndrewT]

Please check the full headers of the incomming spam e-mails, if they have SpamAssassin information in them then there's nothing further that can be done on our end. If these headers are not there, then submit a trouble ticket as that would indicate that SpamAssassin is not functioning properly.

[Ben]

The SpamAssassin headers are still there but spam is coming through with low scores.

Interesting to note however that according to the headers, SpamAssassin was upgraded on CP15 from 3.0.1 to 3.0.2 around 6 Jan (possibly 5th US time?) which is exactly when the problems began! Would suggest that something in the upgrade has caused the problem? Is it possible to roll back to 3.0.1?

Ben

[AndrewT]

No it will not be rolled back. You may want to adjust your SpamAssassin settings accordingly and/or look into their more detailed configurations that can be done directly to the config files from within your account.

[Ben]

Seems to be a coincidence that the problems started when SpamAssassin was upgraded. Adjusting the settings won't help as spam is coming through with very low, and even negative, scores.

Is it possible that the server settings need to be tweaked?

Ben

[mikesm]

Something did happen a few days ago that significantly upped the amount of spam getting through, but it may be something completely unrelated to the spamassassin config on the server.

What I don't understand is why outlook flags a message as spam immediately when it makes it through spam assassin. I don't get ham with topics like viagra, cialis, or cum in the subject, yet this spamassassin isn't killing this like it used to.

Can I add keyword filters to spamassassin easily? I didn't see the options in the control panel on cpanel.

Thanks,
Mike

[thinkliberty]

This is one of the reasons spam is on the increase:

http://it.slashdot.org/it/05/01/13/1721203.shtml?tid=111

[Jody]

Spammers have gotten smarter

I've noticed the same increase in spam. I checked my Spam folder, and nothing has been put in that folder for days now.

I think the spammers have figured out how to get around Spam Assassin. I notice the spam emails are much more simple than they used to be, so they don't trigger so many points against them in Spam Assassin.

A lot of the latest spam doesn't have any fancy HTML formatting. It has several lines of unformatted type (usually with misspellings or odd spacing so it won't trigger a keyword match) and then a link to a website. Keeping it simple let's them get around a lot of Spam Assassins tests for formatting and keywords.

If you know the things Spam Assassin tests for, it should be easy to get around them.

[waltonics]

yeh, for what its worth, even in my yahoo email, who have been pretty good at bagging spam, there has been a huge increase in the amount of email getting through.

[Andy]

I have noticed the same thing. For the last little while spam have been pouring into my account. SA use to catch 99%, but its now more like 25% of spam

[nefadol]

I don't use filters too much myself, but the amount of spam I get in my ISP account has been crazy lately. A few a day was normal, but now it's around 50 a day. I think I'll start using my filters now.

[sixfortyfive]

I am also getting an unusual amout of Spam making it to my Inbox. I've gone from about 2-3 a week to 20-30 a day, with a SpamAssassin setting of 4.0.

Something server-relayed "might" be off, here is a record of when it started:

1) On about January 12 I submited a trouble ticket, and at this point SpamAssassin was not processing the mail at all. (It wasn't in the message headers) Dathorn then updated SpamAssassin, and they were getting processed, but the Spam never stopped.

2) I am actually on SpamAssassin 3.0.1. My messages read: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.1 (2004-10-22) on cpanel31.gzo.com. So I don't think SpamAssassin was actually upgraded on cpanel31.

[Jonathan]

I am also getting an unusual amout of Spam making it to my Inbox. I've gone from about 2-3 a week to 20-30 a day, with a SpamAssassin setting of 4.0.

Something server-relayed "might" be off, here is a record of when it started:

1) On about January 12 I submited a trouble ticket, and at this point SpamAssassin was not processing the mail at all. (It wasn't in the message headers) Dathorn then updated SpamAssassin, and they were getting processed, but the Spam never stopped.

2) I am actually on SpamAssassin 3.0.1. My messages read: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.1 (2004-10-22) on cpanel31.gzo.com. So I don't think SpamAssassin was actually upgraded on cpanel31.

cPanel31? I'd submit a TT.. I'm also on cPanel31 but I'll admit that
I now use Thunder Bird + SpamPal; its not failed me so far and only
one mis-marked email...

[AndrewT]

If the SpamAssasin headers are in there then there is nothing we can do. SpamAssassin is a very basic piece of software and lately spammers have figured out how to get around it's filtering.