vBoxxConnect - Content Filtering

Content filtering is an excellent way for system administrators, domain administrators, and/or users to take actions on incoming emails that meet specific criteria. For example, it is possible to use content filters to delete messages with certain attachments (e.g., attachments with a .exe extension), forward messages from a specific email address to another account, move messages to a specific folder, or even change the subject of a message by adding something to it before delivery. Although content filters are typically used to organize email by moving messages to specific folders, they are highly flexible, allowing you to filter messages as you wish.

Content Filtering is available for users and domain administrators in the Settings and/or Domain Settings. System administrators have a Content Filtering tab available for each domain managed on the vBoxxConnect server. In both settings and domain settings, there is an option for Content Filtering in the navigation menu that allows you to view and manage existing filters. That being said, the filters created are only visible/editable to the role that created them. This means that domain-specific content filters are only accessible to domain administrators, and users can see their own filters. However, a filter created for a domain by a system administrator is available to both the system administrator and the domain administrator.

Once the Content Filtering section is opened, any existing filters will be listed. Content filters are executed from top to bottom. Additionally, content filters are executed from top to bottom: this means that content filters created by system and/or domain administrators are executed first, followed by filters created by users. This means that if a message can be handled by more than one filter, it will be processed by the FIRST content filter encountered. So, if you see strange or unexpected behavior for messages, you may want to reorganize the order of your filters. You can do this by moving them up and down using the up and down arrows next to the names of the content filters, rearranging them in the "execution order." You may also want to contact your domain administrator to see if they have created any content filters that may affect message delivery.

NOTE: Some content filtering actions, such as a Forward action, do not work in conjunction with Plus Addressing because content filters are executed BEFORE any plus-addressing commands. Using both can result in duplicate messages or other unwanted/unnecessary behavior.

To remove a content filter, simply select it from the list and click the Delete button.

Create/Edit Content Filters

To create a new Content Filter, navigate to More > Settings > Content Filtering.

When adding a content filter, the following cards will be available, each with options related to the conditions you want to use for the rules and the actions taken based on the conditions you set:

General

• Name - The name chosen to describe the rule.
• Match Type - Since multiple conditions can be configured per content filter, vBoxxConnect provides the option to require that ALL conditions or ANY of the conditions are met before the rule's action is triggered. Select the appropriate option from this list.
• Enable wildcards in search strings (* and ?) - Wildcards can be used to replace a specific word, phrase, or character, with a question mark (?) representing a single character and an asterisk (*) representing text. For example, if you want to block sales01@domain.com, sales02@domain.com, and sales03@domain.com, you can enter sales??@domain.com. If you want to block all sales addresses, you can enter sales* instead.

Conditions

Click on New Condition to specify the criteria that trigger the action(s) of the rule. For each selected condition, you can add specifications if necessary and enter the required data. For example, if you choose to filter on 'From address,' you can enter one or more email addresses. If you choose to filter on 'Contains specific words or phrases,' you can enter the specific text and choose to search for that text in the subject, message body, header, etc., of an email.

In many conditions, you also have the option to invert the logic of the criteria item by changing the comparison selection. For example, if you only want to accept email from specific domains, you choose the condition 'From specific domains' and set the comparison field to 'Does not match.' All messages sent from domains that do not match what you entered in the text box can be deleted.

Note: If you select a condition that requires a value to be entered and the field remains empty, vBoxxConnect will ignore this rule.

The following conditions are available, separated by Condition Type:

From Address:

With this condition, you can choose whether to run the filter on specific addresses or domains, or on trusted senders. Then, set the comparison type: whether the field matches or does not match the condition type. Next, enter the addresses or domains you want to use for the filter. The fields to be used include:

• From specific addresses
• From specific domains
• From trusted senders

Contains Specific Words or Phrases

With this condition, you can search for words or phrases in various areas and then take action when those words or phrases are found. You can set the comparison type, whether the words/phrases are found or not found, and then enter the words or phrases you want to use for the filter. The fields to be used include:

• Subject
• Body
• Subject or Body
• From Address
• To Address
• Email header
• Anywhere

To Address

With this condition, you can search for specific addresses or domains in the To: or Cc: fields. You can set the comparison type, whether the address or domain is included in the selected field, and then enter the addresses or domains you want to use for the filter. The fields to be used include:

• To specific addresses
• To specific domains
• Only to me
• My address in to field
• My address not in to field
• My address in to or cc field

Attachments

• Has any attachment
• Specific filenames
• Specific extensions
• Over specific size

Other

With this condition, you can filter based on various criteria, including flag type, message size, likelihood of spam, etc. The fields to be used include:

• Flagged as high priority
• Flagged as normal priority
• Flagged as low priority
• Message automated (no return address)
• Sender authenticated
• Message over size
• Message under size
• Received in date range
• Sent through a specific server (by IP address)
• Spam probability

Actions

Click on New Action to specify what should happen when an email triggers the content filter condition(s). Note: If you select an action that requires a value to be entered and the field remains empty, vBoxxConnect will ignore this rule.

The following actions are available:

• Delete message - Removes the message so it never lands in your Inbox. Note: messages deleted through content filtering cannot be restored.
• Bounce message - Sends a message back to the sender of the email stating that the message has been bounced back and not delivered. Note: If bouncing is disabled by the system administrator, the sender will never be notified, and the message will simply be deleted.
• Move Message - Delivers the incoming message to the folder you choose in the dropdown list. Note: if you later delete that folder and leave the content filter active, the filter will automatically create the folder when the action is triggered.
• Add Header - Adds an email header to the incoming message, which can be useful for additional filtering via Outlook or other email clients. Headers must have the format 'X-someheadername: value.'
• Add Text to Subject - Adds a prefix to the email's subject line. This is useful for categorizing emails, as the subject line is modified to include the text you specify in the text box.
• Forward message - Sends a copy of the message to another email address and also leaves a copy of the message.
• Mark as read - Automatically marks the messages as read, meaning they will not appear in your inbox or any other folder as unread.
• Set Priority - Automatically raises the priority of a message. For example, if you create a content filter that marks a message from a VIP, you might also want to set the message's priority to High to indicate its importance.
• Flag message - Automatically flags the message for follow-up. This allows you to easily find messages that your content filter has acted upon.

Manually Activating Filters

Users can manually activate one or more of their content filters to run on a specified email folder. The ability to run content filters on-demand is a convenient way to clean up the mailbox because actions can be performed on EXISTING emails rather than just incoming email.

It is possible to run a content filter on a specific folder by simply selecting the folder name and choosing Run Content Filter via the Actions menu icon that appears at the bottom of the vBoxxConnect interface. (This is located to the right of the folder icon.) Once selected, a modal will open, and you can select the content filter you want to run from the dropdown list and then click OK. The filter process may take some time, but you can continue working while the process runs in the background. When the filter process is complete, a toast notification 'Action successful' will appear in the Email section.

Important Notes About On-Demand Filters:

• The conditions 'Sent through a specific server (by IP address)' and 'Sender authenticated' and the action 'Bounce message' cannot be used when manually running a content filter. If a filter includes any of the restricted actions or conditions as the only action or condition, the filter must be manually activated. If a filter includes any of the restricted actions or conditions along with other actions or conditions, please note that the restricted action or condition will be excluded from the filter process.
• The 'Delete message' action immediately removes the email from the system. If Message Archiving is not enabled, these messages may not be recoverable.
• The 'Add Subject Prefix' action needs to rewrite the message. It attempts to give the new message a timestamp with the date from the message header. However, if the date cannot be derived from the message header, the rewritten message will display the current time.
• The 'Trusted Senders' condition looks for CURRENT trusted senders. It cannot search for messages from trusted senders configured at the time the message was delivered.
• If you run content filters on demand, the filters are executed in the order they appear. However, the on-demand process does not iterate through messages multiple times to perform filter actions. Instead, it first gathers all actions it can perform on the message and then executes them in the order they would have been found.
• If there are multiple actions for one filter, actions that do not require the message to be rewritten are executed first. For example, a message is marked as read before being moved to another folder.