How do I stop picture or image spam?

Applies To: Models 1000, 2000, 3000

If experiencing unacceptable amounts of picture or image spam via ePrism, do the following:

The examples below illustrate two ways of combatting image spam using PBMF definitions. Note that Method 2 may result in many valid emails being rejected.  If this proves true, Method 1 looks for a specific file type and may prove more effective.

PBMF Method 1 (recommended)

Add a PBMF to reject all messages that contain a certain file type. The file may be an attachment or embedded in the body of the email. The PBMF will filter it either way. It is highly recommended that you monitor your mail after this PBMF is added to ensure that mail is not being lost.

This PBMF example will treat all inbound messages that contain gif attachments as spam. Note that gif images are commonly used in signatures and newsletters. Legitimate sources will have to be whitelisted. PBMF supports whitelisting, see Using PBMFs for Whitelisting.

 The PBMF field values should be:

Apply To: Inbound
Message Part:  STA Token
Pattern: Matches and  content-type:image/gif
Priority: Low
Action: Certainly Spam

PBMF Method 2

Add a PBMF to reject all messages that contain clickable links. Messages will not typically have clickable images. It is highly recommended that you monitor your mail after this PBMF is added to ensure that mail is not being lost.

The PBMF field values should be:

Apply To: Inbound
Message Part:  <<mail content>>
Pattern: RegExp and  .* <img.*src.*>
Priority: Low
Action: Reject

Note that Technical Support does not support Regular Expressions. However, the regular expression pattern above is looking for img or src in the mail body surrounded by any other characters.