|
|
|
|
|
Filtering unwanted spam emails Last updated: 27 March 2003 PCD have now activated their solutions for the problems identified by Members and staff in the past year. If you have any comments, please address them directly to PCD on the hotline: 020 7219 2001. Here are several bulletins offering advice. Latest is at the bottom of the list. 1. Background. 2. Interim information and advice from PCD (16 October 2002) 3. Action promised by the Leader of the House (14 November 2002) 4. Email from Serjeant at Arms (23 December 2002) 5. Email about IT security assessment from IT Security Manager (10 January 2003) 6. Email filtering process now activated (PCD message 14 January 2003) 7. PCD's New Advice on Spam (email 17 March 2003) LATEST! 8. Update on Spam (email 26 March 2003) Over the past few
months, the W4MP website received a growing number of complaints by MPs' staff
about the volume of unsolicited spam emails - including many with highly offensive content
- addressed to their MP but which they have to deal with initially. So we
decided to conduct a
small random survey which revealed that about a
third of MPs' offices are having to deal daily with these unwanted
emails. Our next step was to invite all staff to complete a brief confidential questionnaire about this (first posted on 30 September) and 291 completed questionnaires were received. Those who replied reflect the general spread of staff in terms of gender, Party, type of job etc. The results of the full questionnaire tend to confirm the original picture and a full report was passed on to PCD on 6 November and has been copied, as promised, to MPs' staff and members of the Commons Information Committee on 15 November. Before we launched the questionnaire we asked PCD for advice and this has now (16 October) arrived - see next section.
2. Interim information and advice from PCD Update 17 October 2002: The Parliamentary Communications Directorate (PCD) are aware that this survey is underway and have now provided some information about plans to address the problem plus some hints on current ways of lessening the problems. Here's what they say:
3. Action promised by the Leader of the House (14 November 2002) Click here to see Robin Cook's response to a question from Brian Iddon MP. Plus an item from The Guardian 15 November 2002.
4. New arrangements for dealing with un-wanted emails (23 December 2002) Email and attachment from
the Serjeant at Arms dated 23 December 2002. We
are aware that a number of Members and staff have been troubled by
unwanted e-mails. The
Parliamentary Communications Directorate (PCD) has developed some
comprehensive arrangements for dealing with unsolicited junk mail (SPAM)
and the attached guidelines [below] will help to deal with this problem. Michael
Cummins New
arrangements for dealing with un-wanted emails SPAM,
or unsolicited junk email, is a growing concern for Internet users
everywhere and we are aware that it is causing concern and frustration to
many users of the PDVN. PCD
has investigated options for addressing this problem and proposes to
implement a software solution. Initially
we will block email containing certain profanities and any associated
images. In this case the
sender will receive a message saying that their message has been blocked.
If the sender contacts you and you wish the email to be released, please
call the PCD Helpdesk on extn. 2001. This must be requested by the
intended receiver of the email. This
arrangement will offer protection to users of the PDVN but unfortunately
cannot guarantee to capture all such email. We intend to start
introducing this solution to all inbound email from 13th
January 2003. In due
course, we will also be identifying email that is suspected SPAM and will
notify our customers as to the management of such mails. If any user is
concerned about the effect of this, or wishes further explanation, they
should contact customer services by email at CustomerServicesPCD@parliament.uk
If you should happen to receive an email that you consider should be
blocked in future please forward it to unwantedspam@parliament.uk
and we will consider including it in the blocked sources list. PCD will
monitor the effect of these new arrangements and we will welcome your
feedback in this respect. We
also intend to review what other measures could be put in place to offer
further protection whilst maintaining accessibility. Meanwhile,
there is action which users can take individually to help address this
exasperating problem. 1.
Users may wish to activate the junk or adult senders facility in Microsoft
Outlook and add the senders of unwanted emails that they receive to these
lists. Any emails from senders on these lists can be automatically handled
by using the Microsoft Outlook Rules Wizard. If you wish to set rules in
Microsoft Outlook to handle unwanted emails you should refer to the user
manual that you received when attending your initial PDVN training. In
addition to this users should avoid using the “preview pane” if they
do not wish to be presented with the contents of such emails
automatically. We will be issuing a summary of the relevant training
material via email shortly. 2.
Beware of purchasing SPAM-advertised products e.g. emails advertising
special offers. Aside from encouraging spammers, this makes more
personally identifiable information (e.g. name, address, phone number,
credit card numbers, etc) available to them. It will also guarantee that
you will get more SPAM. 3.
Refrain from using the "reply", "remove" or
"unsubscribe" options to unwanted Email, as using any of these
responses, will confirm to the sender that your Email address is in fact
valid and in use. Some
senders may remove your address, but others may flag your email address as
"live" and send you more SPAM or even sell your address to other
spammers. 4.
Do not post your email address online for newsletter subscriptions, in
chat rooms or to join online groups unless you are satisfied that the
organisation concerned will safeguard this information by not displaying
it for others to see or use it for purposes other than those you have
agreed to. 5.
If you receive any images which you believe may be illegal, you should
retain the detail in your email inbox for further investigation and
contact the PCD helpdesk on 020 7219 2001.
5. IT system vulnerability assessment commences (10 January 2003). The following email message was sent to all staff on 10 January from Mark Bailey, Parliament's new IT Security Manager: From: Parliamentary IT Security Notices In the interests of security, an IT system vulnerability assessment, approved by both Houses, will commence in January 2003. This assessment is part of a strategic plan to enhance IT system security throughout Parliament, to improve IT security standards and to reduce the risk of unauthorised or unlawful system access to Parliamentary information. This email is to notify you that during this assessment, the overall system may be monitored and/or recorded in order to secure the effective operation of the system. However, the privacy of the individual's data and their usage of the computer system will be safeguarded. The vulnerability assessment will not impact on Parliamentary business and it will not be performed during peak levels of user activity. Mark Bailey
6. Email filtering process now activated (PCD message 14 January 2003)
From: PCD Notices
Sent: 14 January 2003 12:33 Subject: Inappropriate Email Control PCD
have now activated the email filtering process in an attempt to capture
and block inappropriate text from being accepted into Parliament. The
senders of emails containing inappropriate text will receive a message
from PCD as shown below. Message subject: "Subject of original message" This is to advise you that your email has been blocked and will be deleted by the Houses of Parliament in due course since we believe it has inappropriate content. The intended recipient has not received the email. In
the event that you believe the email has been blocked incorrectly please
contact the intended recipient directly to discuss its release.
In
the case of genuine emails the recipient must contact PCD, who will upon
written request release the mail. PCD
7. PCD's New Advice on Spam (17 March 2003)
From: PCD Notices
Sent: 17 March 2003 10:27 Subject: SPAM Filter PCD
implemented a new service at the beginning of the year to block emails
which contained offensive material. This service has been successfully
blocking many of the most offensive unsolicited emails that come in. As
with any new system, further refinements will be made to deal with
concerns that are raised about its operation.
PCD will continue to research the market for new and better
solutions.
We
now want to help you to deal with the many junk emails you receive
(commonly known as SPAM), such as those advertising unwanted products
and services and those sent by fraudsters inviting you to make money
from dubious deals in developing countries.
The system will allow you to have complete control over how you
deal with these messages as it will not block any of your email but will
simply add a label to those it thinks are SPAM.
This label will allow you to sort the mail that is probably SPAM
out from the mail you want to receive, and dispose of it very much more
quickly. PCD
would like to thank all of those users who have sent unwanted Spam to unwantedspam@parliament.uk.
The material received has been assessed and this has allowed us
to establish the best method of managing the unwanted emails for the
time being.
We are aware of many known spammers and through your help have
added them to a list of sources from which emails are currently being
blocked. You
will have received an email subject line Spam Filter which contained a
training document explaining how to set up the new mailbox as well as an
automated rule. If you did
not receive the rule please contact the PCD
has created a system based rule, attached to this message, which users
can import into their Mailbox.
When activated, the rule will automatically move messages marked
SPAM to a sub folder (titled spam) of your Mailbox. Please follow the
guidelines set out in the instructions on saving and importing the rule.
In
the first instance the system will tag what it considers SPAM and
deliver the message to the recipient. The message will be tagged with
the subject heading SPAM allowing the rule, when set up, to
automatically place the message into the subfolder. It
will be the responsibility of users to manage the SPAM folder within
their Mailbox. It is recommended that users go through the SPAM Mailbox
regularly, perhaps every week, and delete items they believe to be SPAM.
It is possible that some tagged email will be from a genuine
source.
Looking at who the message is from will help you to identify
these emails.
We would welcome your feedback with regard email that has been
tagged in error. This
is the first step in managing SPAM. The process will be reviewed
regularly and we are hoping over time that the number of SPAM messages
delivered to the users will be reduced as more senders are added to
blocked senders list. As
with offensive material PCD is reviewing the market for products that
could offer further protection to users.
We do hope that the arrangements that we have put and are putting
in place will offer users some relief from unwanted email. If
you have any queries once you receive the details please contact
Helpdesk on 0207 219 2001.
8. Update on Spam (26 March 2003) From:
PCD Customer Services We recently informed you about a new service to identify unwanted emails known as SPAM which we know many of you receive. This email provides an update on the service. Over the first 6 days of the new service 13,800 suspected SPAM items have been tagged and a further 942 blocked. We are aware that the system does not capture all SPAM, but we believe it is identifying the majority of it. PCD will review the SPAM received on a weekly basis and ensure that undisputed senders of SPAM are blocked in future. We are also aware that it is important to users of the Parliamentary Network that legitimate email is not blocked and our current arrangements have been developed to avoid this occurring. PCD are actively looking at further ways to improve the service whilst ensuring legitimate email is not impeded. We will update you in due course. We hope that you are finding the current solution helpful. We welcome your continued support and feedback [Helpdesk on 0207 219 2001] in our attempt to reduce the amount of nuisance and offensive email you receive.PCD For earlier information, emails,
bulletins, etc on this issue Home | Help | Feedback | Site Map | About Us
|
