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You know you've got a good spam filter when…

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…users start complaining if a spam gets through.

Human beings are incredibly adaptable — we can learn to live with (almost) any change, while only really noticing and complaining about the moment of change itself. User reaction to spam filter effectiveness is a case in point.

If you've got a moderately good spam filter, which lets through a couple a day, users will quietly and uncomplainingly adapt. They'll internalize "spam? oh, hit the delete key" as part of their unconscious daily routine. But if you upgrade to a really good spam filter, you're in trouble. Users will adapt to the absence of spam — they'll throw away that part of their routine, even though they don't realise it. And then when a spam does get through, hoo boy do they notice it.

This morning a Nigerian-style spam made it through our filters and into a lot of Microsoft inboxes. Suddenly there's discussion on umpteen threads, tips on how to report spam, notification that the spammer account has already been shut down, and generally a lot of attention from people whose routines have suddenly been jolted.

Change. It's what's for dinner.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    October 05, 2004
    What product are you using for Spam Filtering?
  • Anonymous
    October 05, 2004
    Good question, and one that I don't know the answer to. I looked on MSDN to see if our information technology group had published any information about the spam filters they use (I was hoping for something along the lines of the white paper about how they consolidated servers using Exchange 2003), but I couldn't find anything obvious. Anyone know the answer? Is this public information?
  • Anonymous
    October 05, 2004
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    October 06, 2004
    The comment has been removed