Preventing Downloading of Attachments
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,630
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From: 39N 77W
Preventing Downloading of Attachments
I use Norton Antivirus which seems to do a good job of catching virus-bearing attachments.
I use POPFile which is about 99% effective at automatically diverting spam messages to my Deleted Mail folder.
I installed MailWasher because it allows manual deletion of mail with attachments before downloading over my dialup connection.
But MailWasher requires me to look at every header. Reviewing headers takes longer than downloading all but the largest attachments and demands my full attention while doing it.
Have I missed a MailWasher mode that only presents mail with attachments for my review? Or even a MailWasher filter that only marks mail w/ attachments? Is there an alternative to MailWasher that only presents mail with attachments for my review?.
I removed MailWasher so I can't look at the options locally and their online info doesn't mention filtering based on the mere presence of an attachment.
Thanks,
SC
I use POPFile which is about 99% effective at automatically diverting spam messages to my Deleted Mail folder.
I installed MailWasher because it allows manual deletion of mail with attachments before downloading over my dialup connection.
But MailWasher requires me to look at every header. Reviewing headers takes longer than downloading all but the largest attachments and demands my full attention while doing it.
Have I missed a MailWasher mode that only presents mail with attachments for my review? Or even a MailWasher filter that only marks mail w/ attachments? Is there an alternative to MailWasher that only presents mail with attachments for my review?.
I removed MailWasher so I can't look at the options locally and their online info doesn't mention filtering based on the mere presence of an attachment.
Thanks,
SC
Supercalifragilistic
expialidocious
expialidocious
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 589
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From: Essex, UK
Mailwasher has a column that indicates if an email has an attachment.
So if you want to delete all attachments just sort by that column, tick the relevant deletes and hit process mail.
Why do you need to look at the headers of every message in mail washer?
I find I only need to look at headers rarely then it's usually only on virus emails to check if I know the real originator of the mail so I can alert them to the virus.
Most of the time I just sort by the message category, if a message in the blacklisted or "probably spam" category has an address I know or a subject that may not be spam I save it from deletion and blacklisting for a closer look in the Mailwasher preview.
If you get so many virus bearing attachment you may save a lot of time by persuading your contacts to run AV software!
So if you want to delete all attachments just sort by that column, tick the relevant deletes and hit process mail.
Why do you need to look at the headers of every message in mail washer?
I find I only need to look at headers rarely then it's usually only on virus emails to check if I know the real originator of the mail so I can alert them to the virus.
Most of the time I just sort by the message category, if a message in the blacklisted or "probably spam" category has an address I know or a subject that may not be spam I save it from deletion and blacklisting for a closer look in the Mailwasher preview.
If you get so many virus bearing attachment you may save a lot of time by persuading your contacts to run AV software!
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,630
Likes: 0
From: 39N 77W
I misspoke. I do not look at the headers, I just look at sender and subject. Sorry.
About 75% of my incoming email is spam.
I get one or two infected attachments per day and all come from "Microsoft" or other fake addresses. But the senders are cunning and use many variations of sender and subject. POPFile deflects them all, but that is after they have been downloaded and Norton has detected the virus. I don't think I have ever received an infected attachment from a legitimate source.
Thanks for the suggestion about just using the "attachment" column in MailWasher.
SC
About 75% of my incoming email is spam.
I get one or two infected attachments per day and all come from "Microsoft" or other fake addresses. But the senders are cunning and use many variations of sender and subject. POPFile deflects them all, but that is after they have been downloaded and Norton has detected the virus. I don't think I have ever received an infected attachment from a legitimate source.
Thanks for the suggestion about just using the "attachment" column in MailWasher.
SC
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,630
Likes: 0
From: 39N 77W
At the kind suggestion of memetic, I have placed MailWasher's "Attachment" column as far left as posible with "Size" next. This makes it fairly easy to use.
However MailWasher fails to find some attachments that Outlook Express reveals.
That reduces its usefullness.
SC
However MailWasher fails to find some attachments that Outlook Express reveals.
That reduces its usefullness.
SC
