Using Spam Quarantine in SpamExperts

The Spam Quarantine In SpamExperts contains messages classified as spam by the filter and withheld accordingly. Instead of delivering such messages directly to your email mailbox, they can be reviewed in quarantine.

This is especially helpful if you are missing an expected email and want to check whether it was classified as spam by SpamExperts.

Important: If a legitimate email ends up in quarantine, you should not immediately change the general filter settings. CURIAWEB generally recommends keeping the SpamExperts standard configuration. First, examine the message in question and then decide on a targeted measure.

What is spam quarantine? #

SpamExperts analyzes incoming messages before they are forwarded to your actual mail server.

Simply put, the message path can look like this:

Incoming email
       ↓
SpamExperts
       ↓
Classification
       ↓
 ┌───────────────┬─────────────────┐
 │ accepted      │ as spam         │
 ↓               ↓
Mail server      Quarantine
 ↓
Mailbox

Quarantine thus allows you to check held messages without them automatically appearing in your normal inbox.

When should you check the quarantine? #

The spam quarantine is particularly relevant when you know someone has sent you an email, but it has not arrived in your mailbox.

For a targeted search, you should ideally know the following details:

• Sender address
• Recipient address
• approximate date and time of dispatch

With this information, you can also use the Log Search to see how SpamExperts processed the message in question.

1. Open SpamExperts Control Panel #

Log in to the CURIAWEB customer center and open the SpamExperts service for the respective domain.

After opening the SpamExperts Control Panel, check that you are managing the correct domain or user.

We explain the exact registration at Login to the SpamExperts Dashboard via the CURIAWEB Customer Center.

2. Open spam quarantine #

Open in the inbound filtering section the Spam Quarantine.

There you can view the withheld messages that your user account or your administrative level has access to.

Therefore, which messages are visible can depend on your permissions and the access method used.

3. Find requested message #

When you are looking for a specific message, do not focus exclusively on the subject line. Subject lines can be identical or change.

For the identification of a message, the following are particularly helpful:

• Sender
• Recipient
• Time
• Subject

Check this information carefully before further processing any message from quarantine.

Practical Tip: When dealing with a specifically missing business email, Log Search is often the better diagnostic tool. There, you can trace whether SpamExperts even received the message and how the system processed it.

You can find the exact procedure at SpamExperts Log Search: Trace E-Mail History.

4. Check message before approval #

Just because you are expecting a message or the sender's name looks familiar, you should not assume it is legitimate without checking.

Check in particular the actual sender address and whether the message fits the expected course of communication.

Particular caution is advised in the event of unexpected payment requests, password inquiries, invoices, file attachments, or links.

Attention: The displayed sender name of an email is not a reliable proof of identity. Sender information can be manipulated or forged.

5. Release legitimate message #

If you are certain after the review that a withheld message is legitimate, you can use the release function offered in SpamExperts.

This releases the message in question for delivery.

Check your email inbox afterwards.

Please note that the delivery does not necessarily have to be visible at the exact same moment. After approval, the message still needs to be transmitted to the actual destination mail server and processed there.

Sharing and permanently allowing are not the same #

An important distinction exists between releasing a single message and a permanent exception for a sender.

Action	Meaning
Approve message	The specific withheld message is released for delivery.
Allow sender	A more permanent exception is being set up for the sender via the sender allow list.

Just because a single legitimate message has ended up in quarantine doesn't mean the entire sender has to be permanently allowed automatically.

Should I add the sender to the allow list? #

Not automatically.

An allow list is a targeted exception to the normal filtering decision. It should therefore only be used if there is a comprehensible reason for doing so.

For example, if a known business partner is repeatedly misclassified, a targeted allowlist rule may be useful. However, it should be checked beforehand why the messages are affected.

We explain how to set up such exceptions at Sender Allow List: Allow senders in SpamExperts.

A legitimate message was detected as spam – change filter? #

Usually not.

A single misclassification is not a reason to change the global SpamExperts configuration.

CURIAWEB generally recommends that Leaving the default settings of the SpamExperts filter unchanged. The standard configuration is already very well tuned.

For a misclassified message, the better approach is:

Identify message
↓
Check log search
↓
Understand classification
↓
If necessary, train specifically
↓
Targeted exception only when needed

Global filter changes should only be made if there is a specific technical reason for doing so.

False Positive: What does that mean? #

False positive False Positive.

No spam filter can perfectly distinguish between every legitimate and unwanted message under all circumstances.

It is therefore crucial to specifically address a false positive instead of making the entire filter less strict because of a single case.

Train message as ham #

In the context of spam filters, a legitimate message is often referred to as Ham referred to as.

SpamExperts offers options to use messages for filter training.

Spam
→ unwanted message

Ham
→ legitimate message

If a legitimate message has been incorrectly detected as spam, targeted ham training may be the more appropriate measure than changing the general filter settings, depending on the situation.

We explain how the training works and when it is useful at Train SpamExperts Filter: Report spam and ham correctly.

A message is not in quarantine #

When an expected email is missing and cannot be found in the spam quarantine, it does not automatically mean that SpamExperts has deleted it.

For example, a message can:

• have been accepted by SpamExperts
• already have been forwarded to the destination mail server
• temporarily delayed during forwarding
• have been rejected
• have not reached SpamExperts at all

In this case, you should Log Search use.

Important: The quarantine is not a complete log of all email traffic. If you want to know what happened to a specific message, the Log Search is the central diagnostic tool.

Message has been approved, but is not arriving #

If you have released a message from quarantine, but it still does not appear in your mailbox, you should not repeatedly click the release function.

Instead, check via Log Search how the further delivery was processed.

SpamExperts must then forward the released message to the configured destination mail server. A problem may therefore also lie behind SpamExperts.

With a new or changed incoming configuration, you should additionally check the destination.

We explain the connections between MX records, SpamExperts, and destination mail servers at Set up SpamExperts incoming filtering and configure MX records.

Why am I not seeing the same news as another user? #

Which quarantine entries a user can see depends on their access level and permissions.

Therefore, a user account may have a different view of the quarantine than an account with broader administrative rights.

In case of unexpected results, first check which user or at which administrative level you are logged in.

Spam in quarantine does not need to be processed individually #

You don't need to open or edit every message correctly identified as spam individually.

The quarantine primarily serves to check any messages held back if necessary and to identify potential misclassifications.

If a message is clearly unwanted and has been filtered correctly, there is normally no reason to make changes to the filter because of this message.

Check spam quarantine regularly #

How often you should check the quarantine depends on how critical your email traffic is.

For business-critical mailboxes, it is advisable to regularly review held messages or use protection reports.

With Protection Reports, you can get information about filtered messages without having to manually open the SpamExperts Control Panel every time.

We handle the setup under Set up and manage SpamExperts protection reports.

What to do with many false positives? #

If not just a single message, but repeatedly legitimate emails from different senders are classified as spam, the cause should be systematically investigated.

Even in this case, do not change multiple filter values simultaneously as a precaution.

Instead, document some concrete examples with:

• Sender address
• Recipient address
• Date and time
• Subject
• Result or classification in Log Search

This makes it much easier to assess whether there is actually a systematic filter problem.

What to do about a suspicious message in quarantine? #

If you are unsure about a message, you should not approve it just because the subject line sounds interesting or urgent.

Special care is required, for example, with unexpected:

• Invoices
• Payment reminders
• Password or account inquiries
• Attach files
• Links to login pages
• Changes to bank details

When in doubt, check the sender via an independent communication channel.

The most important tools for a missing email #

Tool	What to use it for?
Spam Quarantine	Check held spam messages
Log Search	Track processing and delivery status of a specific message
Filter Training	Targeted training of misclassified spam or ham messages
Sender Allow List	Set up a justified exception for a specific sender

Recommended procedure for a missing email #

1. Determine sender, recipient and shipping time.
2. Check spam quarantine.
3. Search for message via Log Search.
4. Check classification and delivery status.
5. If necessary, specifically train in the event of a false positive.
6. Set up an allow list only if there is a specific reason to do so.
7. Leave the global filter settings essentially unchanged.

CURIAWEB recommendation: The SpamExperts default configuration is already very well tuned. Do not change the general filter settings because of individually misclassified messages. First use quarantine, log search, and, if necessary, targeted filter training.

Summary #

The spam quarantine contains messages that SpamExperts has withheld based on its filtering decision. It is particularly helpful when an expected email has not arrived in the mailbox.

Check a message carefully before you approve it. Furthermore, a single approval is not the same as a permanent exception via the sender allow list.

If a message is not in quarantine or is not delivered after being released, use Log Search to trace the actual message path.

And above all: A single misclassification is no reason to change the general SpamExperts filter settings. CURIAWEB recommends generally keeping the proven standard configuration and investigating issues specifically at the message level.