Configuring AntiSPAM Settings

Configuring the Bayesian training control accounts

The Control Account tab lets you configure the email addresses used for remote training of the Bayesian databases.

To train the Bayesian databases through email, email users and FortiMail administrators forward spam and non-spam email (also called training messages) to the appropriate Bayesian control email address. Bayesian control email addresses consist of the user name portion (also known as the local-part) of the email address configured on this tab and the local domain name of the FortiMail unit. For example, if the local domain name of the FortiMail unit is example.com, you might forward spam to learn-is-spam@example.com.

If the FortiMail unit is configured to accept training messages, it will use the email to train one or more Bayesian databases. To accept a training message:

  • The training message must match a recipient-based policy.
  • The matching recipient-based policy must specify use of an antispam profile in which the “Accept training messages from users” option is enabled. For more information, see “Accept training messages from users” on page 511.

If either of these conditions is not met, the FortiMail unit will silently discard the training message without using them for training.

If these conditions are both met, the FortiMail unit accepts the training message and examines the user name portion and domain name portion of the sender address. Two factors determine which Bayesian database or databases will be trained:

  • whether the sender’s protected domain is configured to use the global or per-domain Bayesian database (see “Use global Bayesian database” on page 401)
  • whether per-user Bayesian databases are enabled in the antispam profile (see “Use personal database” on page 510)

Depending on those factors, the FortiMail unit uses the training message to train either the global or per-domain Bayesian database, and may also train the per-user Bayesian database.

To access this part of the web UI, your administrator account’s:

  • Domain must be System
  • access profile must have Read or Read-Write permission to the Policy category

For details, see “About administrator account permissions and domains” on page 290.

To configure the Bayesian control email addresses, go to AntiSpam > Bayesian > Control Account.

Figure 292:Configuring the Bayesian training control accounts

GUI item Description
“is really spam” user name Enter the user name portion of the email address, such as is-spam, to which email users will forward spam false negatives.Forwarding false negatives corrects the Bayesian database when it inaccurately classifies spam as being legitimate email.
“is not really

spam” user name

Enter the user name portion of the email address, such as is-not-spam, to which email users will forward spam false positives.Forwarding false positives corrects the Bayesian database when it inaccurately classifies legitimate email as being spam.
“learn is spam” user name Enter the user name portion of the email address, such as learn-is-spam, to which email users will forward spam that the

Bayesian scanner has not previously scanned.

“learn is not

spam” user name

Enter the user name portion of the email address, such as learn-is-not-spam, to which email users will forward spam that the Bayesian scanner has not previously scanned.
training group Enter the user name portion of the email address, such as default-grp, that FortiMail administrators can use as their sender email address when forwarding email to the “learn is spam” email address or “learn is not spam” email address. Training messages sent from this sender email address will be used to train the global or per-domain Bayesian database (whichever is selected in the protected domain) but will not train any per-user Bayesian database.

In contrast, if a FortiMail administrator were to forward email using their own email address (rather than the training group email address) as the sender email address, and per-user Bayesian databases were enabled in the corresponding incoming antispam profile, the FortiMail unit would also apply the training message to their own per-user Bayesian database.

 


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2 thoughts on “Configuring AntiSPAM Settings

  1. David Geddie

    Emails from at least one customer are still going to quarantine after being added to personal AND system safe list. What am I missing?

    Reply

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