How do I set up email filters and spam protection?

Setting Up Email Filters and Spam Protection

Effective email filtering and spam protection keep your inbox organized and free from unwanted messages. dotCanada.com provides several tools to help you manage incoming emails and minimize spam. This guide covers how to set up both server-level filters and custom email filters in your cPanel account.

Understanding Email Filtering Options

dotCanada.com offers multiple layers of email filtering:

• Server-Level Spam Filtering: Automatically identifies and filters spam before it reaches your inbox
• Custom Email Filters: Rules you create to organize, forward, or delete specific emails
• SpamAssassin: A powerful spam detection system that scores emails based on spam characteristics
• Spam Box: A separate folder where suspected spam messages are stored

Setting Up SpamAssassin

SpamAssassin is the primary spam protection tool included with your dotCanada.com hosting account:

1. Log in to your cPanel account at https://{hostname}.mysecureservers.com:2087
2. In the search box at the top, type "Spam Filters" or navigate to the EMAIL section
3. Click on Spam Filters
4. Click the Enable SpamAssassin button if it's not already enabled
5. Configure your SpamAssassin settings:
   • Enable Spam Box Delivery: Sends suspected spam to a separate folder rather than your inbox
   • Enable Spam Tagging: Adds [SPAM] to the subject line of suspicious emails
   • Auto-Delete Spam: Automatically deletes messages with extremely high spam scores (use with caution)
6. Click Update Settings to save your changes

Adjusting SpamAssassin Score Threshold

You can customize how aggressive SpamAssassin is by adjusting its scoring threshold:

1. In the Spam Filters section, click on Configure SpamAssassin
2. Look for the Required Score setting
3. The default score is usually 5.0. Lower numbers make filtering more aggressive (more emails marked as spam), while higher numbers make it less aggressive
4. Adjust the score based on your preferences:
   • 4.0 or lower: More aggressive filtering (may occasionally mark legitimate emails as spam)
   • 5.0: Default setting (balanced approach)
   • 6.0 or higher: Less aggressive filtering (more spam may reach your inbox)
5. Click Update Preferences to save your changes

Creating Custom Email Filters

Custom filters allow you to create specific rules for handling incoming emails:

1. In cPanel, search for "Email Filters" or navigate to the EMAIL section
2. Click on Email Filters
3. Choose the email account you want to create filters for using the "Manage Filters for Account" dropdown
4. Click Create a New Filter
5. In the "Filter Name" field, enter a descriptive name for your filter
6. Set up your filter rules:
   • Rules: Define the conditions that trigger the filter (From, Subject, Body, etc.)
   • Match: Choose whether the filter should match all conditions (AND) or any condition (OR)
   • Actions: Define what happens when an email matches the filter conditions
7. Click Create to save your filter

Common Filter Examples

Setting Up Email Whitelist and Blacklist

You can create lists of trusted senders (whitelist) and blocked senders (blacklist):

1. In cPanel, go to Spam Filters
2. Click on Configure SpamAssassin
3. Scroll down to find the Whitelist and Blacklist sections
4. Add email addresses or domains:
   • Whitelist: Messages from these addresses will never be marked as spam
   • Blacklist: Messages from these addresses will always be marked as spam
5. Enter one email address or domain per line
6. For domains, use the format: @example.com
7. Click Update Preferences to save your changes

Additional Spam Protection Measures

For more comprehensive spam protection, consider these additional measures:

• SPF Records: Add an SPF record to your domain's DNS settings to help prevent email spoofing
• DKIM: Set up DKIM email authentication to verify that messages claiming to come from your domain are legitimate
• DMARC: Implement DMARC policies to further enhance email authentication
• Regular Reviews: Periodically check your spam folder for legitimate emails that may have been incorrectly filtered

If you need assistance setting up email filters or spam protection, please contact our support team.