{"id":56329,"date":"2020-07-23T11:33:53","date_gmt":"2020-07-23T16:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cpanel.com\/?p=56329"},"modified":"2020-07-23T11:33:53","modified_gmt":"2020-07-23T16:33:53","slug":"spam-filtering-on-cpanel-everything-you-need-to-know-about-spamassassin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devel.www.cpanel.net\/blog\/tips-and-tricks\/spam-filtering-on-cpanel-everything-you-need-to-know-about-spamassassin\/","title":{"rendered":"Spam Filtering on cPanel: Everything You Need To Know About SpamAssassin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Spam is a huge challenge for anyone who hosts email, even though users only see a tiny fraction of the spam they\u2019re sent.  Most unwanted messages never reach inboxes, but an incredible 54 percent of all email traffic is spam<\/a>, and that\u2019s down from 70 percent a decade ago.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good thing is ISPs and hosting providers are better at stamping out spammers, and users are more aware of the risks.  Still,  hundreds of billions of messages are sent every year by automated botnets that collect email addresses, compromise servers, and bombard users with malicious advertising and phishing attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you host email, you need a way to identify and filter unwanted messages, and cPanel integrates one of the most sophisticated filtering tools available. Apache SpamAssassin<\/a> flags spam to remove it before<\/em> it gets to users. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make sure we understand how it works, let\u2019s take a close look at what SpamAssassin is, how it works, and the best settings for SpamAssassin in cPanel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is SpamAssassin and How Does It Work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We all receive spam and can recognize what it is right away. We know what it looks like, and, usually, alarm bells start ringing in our minds even if we can\u2019t say precisely why. When that happens, we\u2019re pattern-matching: our brains have learned to associate specific words, phrases, typography, and grammar with unwanted email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SpamAssassin works in the same way but on a much bigger scale. It looks for patterns that are common in unwanted email and, if a message matches lots of patterns, tells us that it\u2019s probably not something you want to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Email filtering isn\u2019t an exact science. Language is complex; the definition of \u201cunwanted email\u201d changes depending on the context, and spammers try to hide their real goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,  the software has been refined over many years with hundreds of sophisticated tests that can identify junk mail with great accuracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n