SpamAssassin
SpamAssassin is a mail filter which attempts to identify spam
using
a variety of mechanisms including text analysis, Bayesian filtering,
DNS blocklists, and collaborative filtering databases. It is designed
to be called from a user's .procmail or .forward file, but can
also be integrated into a Mail Transport Agent (MTA).
SpamAssassin
uses a wide range of heuristic tests on mail headers and body text to
identify "spam", also known as unsolicited commercial email.
Once
identified, the mail can then be optionally tagged as spam for later
filtering using the user's own mail user-agent application.
SpamAssassin
typically differentiates successfully between spam and non-spam in
between 95% and 100% of cases, depending on what kind of mail is
received
and training of its Bayesian filter. Specifically,
SpamAssassin has been shown to produce around 1.5% false negatives
(spam that was missed) and around 0.06% false positives (ham
incorrectly
marked as spam).
SpamAssassin
also includes plugins to support reporting spam messages automatically
or manually to collaborative filtering databases such as Pyzor, DCC,
and Vipul's
Razor.
SpamAssassin is a project of the Apache Software Foundation
(ASF).
Features include:
- Wide-spectrum: SpamAssassin uses a wide variety of local
and network tests to identify spam signatures
- Easy to extend: Anti-spam tests and configuration are
stored in plain text, making it easy to configure and add new rules
- Flexible:
SpamAssassin encapsulates its logic in a well-designed, abstract API so
it can be integrated anywhere in the email stream. The
Mail::SpamAssassin classes can be used on a wide variety of email
systems including procmail, sendmail, Postfix, qmail, and many others
- Easy Configuration: SpamAssassin requires very little
configuration
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Last Updated Sunday, September 21 2008 @ 05:08 AM EDT
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