Unsolicited e-mail (spam) is a nuisance. Microsoft offers a solution in Exchange Server 2003 to block spam at the server by configuring three types of mail filtering: connection, recipient and sender. In this article I will show you exactly how to configure these filters so you are not bombarded with unwanted junk mail.

In order to configure spam blockage in Exchange Server 2003, follow the steps described below. Exchange Server 2003 allows you to manage three types of mail filtering: connection, recipient and sender.
 

• Run Exchange Systems Manager.
   
• Find Message Delivery under the Global Settings folder.
   

• Right-click on Message Delivery to get to its properties. There are three different types of filtering that you can manage here: Connection, Recipient and Sender Filtering.
   
• The Connections filtering allows you to block spamming from specific IP addresses. You can add exceptions to the IP address by clicking Exception. This way you can allow a specific e-mail address from the blocked IP address.
   

• The Recipient Filtering allows you to block e-mails being delivered to recipients on your local Exchange Server. For example, if you have a user BillG on the techgalaxy.net domain and you don’t want this user to receive e-mails from the outside world, you could set up a recipient filter for BillG@microsoft.com.
   

• When you try to add a filter you get the following message:
  
  
  
  To configure this option, go to Exchange System Manager, expand Servers, server_name, Protocols, SMTP. Go to the Default SMTP Virtual Server Properties and select the IP address from the drop-down box. Click on Advanced button, then click on Edit. Apply the filters that you want in the Identification box, as shown below.
  
  
   

• You could also set up a recipient filter for a user that does not exist but is constantly receiving spam mail. For example, you could set up a recipient filter for a non-existing account called sales@microsoft.com. This will prevent your catch-all account (e.g. webmaster@microsoft.com) from receiving junk mail to a non existing account. You can also use this to block emails being delivered to other internal aliases, such as managers@microsoft.com.
   

• The Sender Filtering allows you to block e-mails coming in from other senders.
  To block a sender on the Sender Filtering tab, click Add. Type in the sender’s address you want to block in the pop up box. For example, hacker@yahoo.com. You can also use wildcards, such as *@*.yahoo.com.
  
  NOTE: Exchange has a limit of about 800 addresses so if you want to add more addresses, you'll have to use a third-party product.
   

• To block an entire domain (such as hotmail), use a wildcard in place of the specific user. For example, *@hotmail.com.
   
• The spam sender will receive a denied message such as:

Your message
  To:      billg@microsoft.com
  Subject: How to become a millionaire
  Sent:    Sat, 23 Aug 2003 09:50:13 -0700
did not reach the following recipient(s):
billg@microsoft.com on Sat, 23 Aug 2003 09:50:05 -0700
    The e-mail address could not be found.  Perhaps the recipient moved to a different e-mail organization, or there was a mistake in the address.  Check the address and try again.

    <ns1.microsoft.com #5.1.0 smtp;554 5.1.0 Sender Denied>

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