Spam Filtering On Shared Hosting Packages: SpamExperts

We recently replaced our email filtering system with a new system called SpamExperts. 

Important:

It is important to note that the instructions that follow apply only to domains that have their email hosted directly on our Shared Hosting email servers i.e. those setup with QMAIL email hosting. If you have email hosting for the domain(s) setup elsewhere, using other MX records, then you should not enable the SpamExperts filtering system for those domains.

There are both a free and paid version that you can avail of - information on these below.

Free Version

This is the base system which applies default filtering rules, which are set and controlled by us. While this works very well on its own, and is very effective at removing incoming spam, it may be the case where you need to control the filtering rules yourself via Whitelists and Blacklists - for this you would require the paid version.

Paid Version

Along with the benefits of the free version, the paid version allows you the ability to whitelist and blacklist email addresses. The paid for version is applied to the individual hosting subscription, as opposed to account wide, so if you have more than one hosting subscription, which has email enabled, and you want to filter them all, you would need to purchase the SpamExperts add-on for each relevant subscription.

How It Works

When you add a domain to the SpamExperts system a process runs as follows:

1. The system will amend your DNS, specifically MX records, to reflect the filtering system as follows:

• Disables any existing active MX records for your Domain Name.
• Creates the 'filtered.antispam.ie' MX record which points the mail for your Domain Name to the spam filter.

1. The domain will be added to the filter in which case it will point the email, flowing through it, back to our Shared Hosting email servers i.e. where your email is hosted.

Note:
It will take at minimum of an hour for this process to take effect, where it can take up to 24 hours for all incoming mail traffic to be delivered via the filter. What this means is that the filtering will not take effect immediately and you may still receive unchecked spam emails until all global DNS servers have updated their records for your domain name.

Note:
If any of your domains, that are hosting their email on our Shared Hosting system, have their nameservers (DNS) hosted elsewhere, you will need to update the MX records they to reflect the change here i.e. the email should be routed via a 'filtered.antispam.ie' MX record.

Installing SpamExperts On Your Domains

 The system can be installed on your domains as follows: 

• From the Home screen, under 'SpamExperts Integration' click Create.
• Click 'SpamExperts Integration' > 'Domain Specific Settings' > 'Domains'.
• Tick the only the domains you require the SpamExperts system to filter and click Next.
• Choose any installation domain (typically the main domain on the subscription) and click Next.
• Click Finish.

This will install the SpamExperts application and amend DNS to suit. 

Purchasing The Paid Version 

If you wish to purchase the add-on follow these steps:

• Click Account.
• Click Subscriptions.
• Click the hosting subscription that you wish to add the SpamExperts management system to.
• Click Resources.
• Click 'SpamExperts Control Panel'.
• Click 'Upgrade Resources'.
• Choose 'On' beside 'SpamExperts Control Panel' and click Next.
• Follow the steps provided.

Once the 'add-on' is purchased and active you will then be able to amend Whitelists/Blacklists as required.

Additional Resources

Please note: Functionality may differ in your control panel from the documents below.

• SpamExperts: Domain Level
• SpamExperts: Email Level

Troubleshooting

If you experience any issues with the SpamExperts system please contact us via help@blacknight.com explain what the issue is.

Please supply the following when contacting us - where applicable:

• The Account ID of your account: this is found at the top right hand corner when logging into your account.
• The Domain Name that is effected.
• Any sample spam emails that are getting through: these will need to be attached as email items, just like a file attachment, to the email sent to us  i.e. not forwarded to us or copied to us.
• Any other relevant information that may apply to the issue.

Remove SpamExperts

If you wish to remove a domain from SpamExperts, please follow the steps below:

1. Ensure that the correct MX record is active (as below).
2. Give the MX record change time to take effect, where this will take roughly an hour to start to take effect - perhaps wait that bit longer for propagation.
3. Remove the SpamExperts entry, for the domain, where you would need to check and ensure the correct MX record is active (as below).
• Home >  'SpamExperts Integration' > 'Domain Specific Settings' > 'Domains'.

The following MX setup applies - where your email is with us:

• The 'smtp1r.cp.blacknight.com' MX record is set as active.
• The 'filtered.antispam.ie' MX record is de-activated; it cannot be deleted.

You can find the DNS entries, per domain, as per the article below:

• https://help.blacknight.com/entries/22941608-DNS-records-in-cp-blacknight-com

Useful Documentation

SpamExperts Integration

• Domain_Level_SpamPanel.pdf
• Email_level_SpamPanel.pdf