(This entry was adapted from an e-mail sent to all District 21 staff members on August 20, 2007.)

Recently, we have once again faced an increase in the number of inquiries by District 21 staff members about the receipt of unwanted e-mails in their District 21 Inbox.

What is Spam?
While we ought not yet be convinced that Wikipedia, the Internet's communal and editable encyclopedia is the best source of students to gather information, it is the perfect place to find general technology definitions of something like spam. In a nutshell, spam is the e-mail version of junk mail. Of course, the Internet is far-less regulated than what comes through the United States Postal Service as well as being far more anonymous and far more international in scope. This combination makes the Internet fertile ground for unseemly activities. For more information on spam, see the Wikipedia encyclopedia entry or the Wikipedia dictionary entry.

The Spam Filter
In District 21, we use a very powerful and popular spam filter. This computer appliance sits in "front" of our e-mail server in relation to the Internet, and it intercepts messages before they arrive on the e-mail server. Thus, the software on the e-mail server does not make any difference--for better or worse.

The Spam Filter does work
Below you can see charts showing the activity on the spam filter. The first two graphs show the e-mails that hit the spam filter during a 24-hour period. (The first one is from August 19, 2007, and the second one is from April 21, 2008.) The second set of graphs covers a four-week period (July-August 2007 and March-April 2008). It is very similar to graphs from all seven days of the week. Notice that the filter blocks nearly all of the e-mails! (All of the red e-mails are blocked!) Only a small percentage of e-mails come through, and of course, many of these are the spam that has made it to your Inbox. Frustrating? Yes--very!

How does the Spam Filter work?
We must set the filter on a scale of more to less restrictive. This is a balancing act. If we set the filter to be too restrictive, then the e-mails we want to receive will not come through. If we set it to be too permissive, we will receive all kinds of unwanted spam. As you can see from the charts on the attachment, the filter DOES block TONS of e-mail. Nevertheless, in order to receive e-mails from parents and colleagues, we need to live with the fact that some spam e-mails will come through.

What can you do?
First, do not sign up for unnecessary services with websites using your District 21 e-mail address. The more that your e-mail address is "out there" in cyberspace, the easier it is for it to be picked up by spam services. Second, when you receive e-mails from people you do not know, delete them--particularly if there is an attachment or if the subject tells you that you've just won some money! Finally, never open an attachment unless you are expecting it. (Those with student interns this year--Encourage them NOT to send their resumé directly to a principal as an attachment. Principals won't/shouldn't open them. Hey, Principals! Don't open attachments from prospective candidates!)