The Rensselaer Enterprise Spam Interdiction TEchnology, or REPSITE, server scans all email addressed to @rpi.edu and @lists.rpi.edu to detect possible spam and viruses. Scanning includes comparing the connecting computer against lists of known spam sources, and against lists of computers believed to have been compromised by so-called "spambots."

In addition, each message is assigned a spam score based on message characteristics, and Rensselaer email recipients have the ability to control the strictness of their anti-spam settings and what actions should be taken when a message has been detected as probable spam.

Watch Out for "Phishing" Attempts

In addition to dealing with spam, all members of the campus community should remain equally vigilant about possible "phishing" attempts that may show up in their email despite the best efforts of IT administrators refining email filters. Such messages are often immediately suspicious because they request specific personal, financial, or account information, and/or may contain unrealistic or threatening language, spelling and grammatical mistakes, or suspicious email addresses or header lines. 

If you ever receive an email message that fits the above descriptions and generally looks questionable, do not respond to the email message or click on any links that may be included in it, and simply delete the message.