Email SPAM and Virus Filtering

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Email SPAM and Virus Filtering

YK Communications uses one of the most powerful and secure Email systems
available in the world to keep your messages as safe and uncluttered as possible! 
Inbound and outbound mail is analyzed and can be filtered by the following categories:    

SPAM (Junk Email) Filtering
SPAM is a term used to describe unsolicited email.  This includes mass marketing and "JUNK" email messages.  The amount of SPAM has increased to the point where it has frustrated many Internet users. 
YK Communications is pleased to offer one of the most powerful and accurate SPAM filtering systems in the world to all YKC customers completely free of charge!

Any message that is sent from or delivered to YKC's Email system will automatically be  evaluated in a very complex process that looks for signs and characteristics of SPAM. 

YKC's Spam Analyzing Engines are  updated multiple times daily by professional SPAM fighting experts.  This means that our system reacts quickly to block minor changes SPAMMERS use to attempt to bypass our system with "JUNK" email.

We try very carefully to balance strong aggressive SPAM filtering with the least amount of false-positives (a blocked message that is not really SPAM).   Our commitment is to keep the number of false positives as low as possible.

Once a message has been identified as SPAM, it is moved to your personal quarantine.  This keeps your inbox free from the overwhelming clutter of Junk email. You can review and even release messages from your personal quarantine by visiting http://webmail.ykc.com  Messages that have been stored in your personal quarantine will automatically be deleted after 5 days without any action required from the user.
Although we highly discourage it, you can disable SPAM filtering on your account by visiting http://webmail.ykc.com

Potentially Unsafe Content Email Scanning
YK Communications is pleased to offer one of the most powerful and accurate content security systems in the world to all YKC customers completely free of charge!

YKC's Unsafe Content Analyzing Engines are  updated multiple times daily by professional computer virus fighting experts.  This means that our system reacts quickly to newly discovered computer viruses and unsafe content.

Any message that is sent from or delivered to YKC's Email system will automatically be  evaluated in a very complex process that looks for signs and characteristics of Unsafe Content.
A message is potentially unsafe if:

• It contains a knows virus, worm or trojan
   
• it contains an attached file that when opened has the potential to do harm or damage to your computer.  Please be aware that POTENTIAL means that the file may or may not contain dangerous content -  but based on the type of file that was attached to the message, we have chosen to err on the side of safety in order to protect our customers.

The notification message you receive from YKC will tell you if a message was blocked because of a FILE or a VIRUS.
If a message is determined to contain Potentially Unsafe Content, the following actions will happen:

• The original message and any attached files will be quarantined by YKC.  The message WILL NOT deliver.
   
• The email address used to send the message FROM will receive an email notice from YKC explaining that their message contained Potentially Unsafe Content and did not deliver.
  
  If you are confident that you did not send the message described in the notice, please consider it as a courtesy notice that your email address is being forged.
   
• The intended recipient of the original message will also receive a copy of the notification so they are aware that a user has attempted to send a message that could not be delivered due to the presence potentially unsafe content.

The notification message will be sent from YKC Security Email Monitor and be similar to the  example shown below.

IMPORTANT NOTICE
A message from fred@bedrock.com contains potentially harmful content
You are receiving this notice because a message from fred@bedrock.com contains potentially harmful content such as viruses or forbidden attachments. The message has been isolated and moved to your personal quarantine. Please visit http://www.ykc.com/email/aevs.htm for a detailed explanation of this notice. If you have any doubts about the message or need more information, please contact your System Administrator Suspicious content: File 'test.scr' has a forbidden name Virus 'W32/Klez.H@mm' in target.exe
Powered by YK Communiations	Questions? Contact your System Administrator		About Sieve

Please notice that this notification will provide the following information:

• The email address used to send the message (FROM).  
  It is possible that this address has been forged!
• The fact that the message was blocked
• The name of the potentially dangerous file (in this case test.scr)
  OR The name of the virus (in this case W32/Klez.H@mm)

If you have received notification message from YKC because you sent a message, you should take the following steps:

If you currently have a virus detection program on your computer, it should be updated with the most current version of the program (often called the "engine") and the most recent list of known viruses (often called "DAT" files).  Many people do not realize that a virus program must be updated often  to be effective.  We suggest updating your virus program somewhere between weekly and monthly.  Update instructions are included with your virus program.

If you do not currently have a virus detection program, you need one now!  Information on how to download a free anti-virus program can be found on the YKC anti-virus page located at http://www.ykc.com/support/antivirus.htm

After you have updated or installed your virus program, use it to scan all of your computer's files for the presence of a virus.  After you have detected and removed the virus, you should create and send a new message to replace the message that YKC quarantined.

If you are a customer of YKC and you need to send an email message before you are able to identify and remove the virus from your computer, please use YKC's Web Based Email program.

If you received a notification advising that you sent a file with a forbidden name, please identify the file named in the report and resend your message without that file attached or try renaming the file and resending the message.  Please see additional information below about dangerous attachments.

If you have received a virus notification message from YKC indicating that you sent a message, but you are confident that you did not:

We collect the email address that the message is marked "from".  If you are confident that you did not send this message and your computer is not infected with a virus and no one else could have sent this message from your computer, please accept this warning as a courtesy notification that your email address is being used without your permission. Your ISP should be able to assist you with any additional information about how this is accomplished.

If you have received a virus notification message from YKC because you were the intended recipient  of an infected message, no additional action is required from you.  However, you may:
Send a message to the sender and ask them if they are having fun yet.
Buy your favorite YK Communications staff member a refreshing drink the next time you see them and tell them thanks for all the problems they saved you by stopping a virus infected file or a dangerous file from reaching your computer!

It is important to understand that this process does not eliminate the need for customers to have and use a virus detection program on your computer.  Email is only one of the ways in which a  virus can enter your computer.   However, due to YKC's Unsafe Content Scanning, we are able to minimize this method of entry.
You should also be aware that the Email Scan will not stop 100% of the virus infected messages that could reach your computer.  Once a new virus has been discovered, its unique characteristics must be added to the virus scanners list of known viruses.  This is the reason that YKC's scanner is
updated DAILY.  

YKC recommends the  McAfee Virus Information Library for learning about the symptoms, characteristics and removal process for most known virus infections.

Additional Information about Dangerous Attachments

Any type of computer file can be attached to and delivered along with an email message. 

There are many file types that will cause your computer to begin processing a set of instructions automatically when the file is opened.  This very “feature” can be useful for  sending files that run legitimate programs and at the same time it can  be misused to send you a file that would erase all of the information from your computer! 
We understand there are times when you will need to receive a file that our system will block even though you know the file is safe.

For example, a person you know needs to send you a file named “sales.exe”.   Since the program ends with “.exe” it is possible that the file could be dangerous and the email server will not allow this file to pass.
The following process will allow you to modify a potentially dangerous file to pass through the YKC Email servers:

• Before the file is attached to the message, it must be renamed to a file name that is safe.  We suggest changing the extension (the last three letters) to “txt”.  In other words, you can
  rename “sales.exe” to “sales.txt”.  (a file that ends in “.txt” can not run instructions that would damage your computer)
• You may now attach the newly named file (sales.txt) to your email message.
• Be sure to include instruction letting the recipient know that they must rename the file back to its original name (sales.exe in this example) before it can be used.

The person you are sending the file to will receive the email message with the “sales.txt” file attached and instructions advising them to rename the file to “sales.exe” before they attempt to use it.  After they have renamed the file, it will function exactly as it was intended to.
We suggest using this process with caution, and only if you are expecting a file from someone you trust.  Remember, once you open a file, your computer is at  the mercy of what the author of that file intended it to do!