#Spamsieve for gmail for mac
#Spamsieve for gmail install
#Spamsieve for gmail software

But this week, I'm buoyed by new optimism that the modern anti-spam tools are up to the challenge. The bottom line: The spammers are winning in sheer volume. The spammers are at a disadvantage because they know what the 'average' person's good mail looks like, but not yours in particular.'

#Spamsieve for gmail install

Install and setup SpamSieve on that machine as normal, with one exception rather than creating its Spam folder on the local machine, create it on the IMAP server. That could be a home iMac, or something like an internet-hosted Mac mini. This is one area where it helps that SpamSieve is a filter for individuals. Here’s how it works: Setup Mail.app on a Mac that’s permanently connected to the internet.

#Spamsieve for gmail software

While the vocabulary isn't overtly spammy, it is statistically different from that of your good mail, and the software can recognize that. Often, the idea is to fool simpler Bayesian filters by including lots of seemingly innocuous words.

'Second, spammers don't send messages the way normal people do, so the headers often contain information revealing that the message is spammy. So the general idea is to ignore the neutral text and zero in on the parts that either look like spam or look like your normal mail. I found his response to be an intriguing look into the minds of spammers:'First, most spam messages have some kind of spammy component, however buried otherwise there would be no point in sending the message. Q: How could software identify those normal-sounding messages as spam?Ī: I asked the programmer, Michael Tsai, by e-mail. What amazes me most is how this program even manages to identify the spam that's disguised to look like a real e-mail message, containing either text like 'Howdy Frank! How's it going?' or the gibberish intended to confuse spam fitlers: 'Probe shortening award, a chipper tavern to intend hundred imply of crick parchment interrupt. Spam Sieve is just incredibly, amazingly accurate my In box is clean, baby, clean!Īnd in about 2,000 spam messages flagged so far, I've encountered not a single legitimate message flagged as spam. The setup is none too friendly, involving a bunch of sub-installations that I suspect would intimidate the average technophobe.But once it's installed-holy cow. So last week, following still more reader tips, I downloaded and installed Spam Sieve ($25 from ). I've been relying on its built-in spam filters, supplemented by dozens of message rules I'd concocted myself. Ever since my Outlook database meltdown last fall, I've been using Microsoft Entourage on the Mac as my main e-mail program.

Q: So what do you use for spam protection?Ī: Funny you should mention that. Other individual recommendations of free Windows antispam programs: SpamBayes ( ) K9 ( ) and Spamihilator ( ).

#Spamsieve for gmail for mac

(, for Mac or Windows.) The built-in spam filter of Google's free Gmail service got lots of votes, too. Many others wrote to recommend Mozilla Thunderbird, a free e-mail program with a terrific built-in spam filter. Customers raved about its accuracy, although it's not free.

By far the most often-cited anti-spam product was Cloudmark Desktop ( ), available for Outlook and Outlook Express for Windows.