Spam Updates:

The authority are working in partnership with YHGFL to seek a solution to the amount of spam that is currently being received by schools throughout the authority.

Senior management are aware of the issue and as a result the schools email working party (representatives from school heads - both primary and secondary, YHGFL and Kirklees) recently asked YHGFL to provide their proposed solution.

YHGFL attended and presented at a recent technicians forum. Below is a summary of the presentation (available to view/download - below), along with Q&A from the technicians present.

YHGFL acknowledged that the current spam software (mail scanner) is ineffective. When spam is being reported, either through the webmail (ticking the email and click on the spam button) or via client software - such as Outlook Express (forwarding the email to spam@yhgfl.net), the software is not operating as expected and the spam is still being received. They believe that this is due to a security upgrade in the software that was implemented 5 months ago. Reversing this upgrade is not an option as this would make the network vulnerable.

In addition, mail scanner is currently running on the three mail servers which produces a negative impact on mail delivery and the capacity of the software to filter spam.

YHGFL did say that the other aspects of email operations are working as expected:-

SMTP - prevents mailbombs (large volume of emails in one go), weird characters and email relay (unauthorized sending of emails).

Spam webchecks - Checks a list of known email spammers from on-line sites such as Spamhaus.

ClamAV antivirus - Block known viruses, emails larger than the allowed amount and prevent banned extensions (such as .exe (applications)) from being delivered.

Proposed Spam Solution

YHGFL have recently tendered two companies to provide a spam solution. The two products are Sophos and Ironport. Sophos will be familiar to many as this is currently available corporately to download for Schools to use. Ironport is a product which is used by Microsoft, Amazon and IBM.

The servers for both products have been installed at Leeds Met and Leeds University, as this is the gateway for all incoming/outgoing traffic on the YHGFL network.

Putting the spam solutions on the 'edge' of the YHGFL network (JANET) is another step to ensuring a resilient and efficient solution is found. This move will seek to prevent any spam from traveling throughout the YHGFL network and also take the spam process away the SMTP servers (improving delivery time of emails) and making the above three steps more efficient.

WILL WE SEE A REDUCTION IN SPAM?

Initially no, the trial is for four weeks and both spam solutions will be running in passive mode. This means that during the trial spam will not be blocked. The software will 'listen and learn' then produce a report on what procedures it would have carried out to any potential spam. YGHFL have decided that this is the best option available with regard to business continuity of the current email service.

WHAT NEXT?

Any updates and progress will be posted on this page and in a shortened version on the previous page. Once the trial has finished YHGFL hope to fully implement the chosen system and we will then monitor the volume of spam being received.

YHGFL Technical Presentation and Q/A