When an email arrives at your network, MailShield acts like a strict security guard at the front door. Before letting any message through, it inspects the sender, the links, and the content using a highly accurate points-based system.
How the points system works
Every incoming email starts with a score of zero. As MailShield scans the message, it adds penalty points for suspicious behaviour. For example, if the sender’s address looks forged, it might add two points. If the email contains a link to a known phishing website, it might add five points. If the email mentions urgent bank transfers and comes from a newly registered domain, it adds even more points.
The total number of points an email accumulates is its final 'spam score'. Your spam policy dictates what happens to the email based on that final score. If an email crosses your configured threshold, it is blocked from entering your inbox and placed safely into quarantine.
Note: In this system, a lower threshold number means a stricter filter, because an email gets quarantined after accumulating fewer penalty points.
Choosing your sensitivity tier
Unlike older systems that ask you to guess a random threshold number, MailShield uses pre-calibrated sensitivity tiers. You simply choose the level of protection that fits your organisation from the Policies page in your dashboard:
- Standard (Score 5): This provides balanced filtering for most organisations. It catches the vast majority of threats without accidentally holding up your legitimate business mail.
- Strict (Score 3): This applies highly aggressive filtering and has a lower rate of false negatives (meaning fewer spam emails slip through). You may occasionally need to check your quarantine for legitimate emails that looked slightly suspicious.
- Compliance (Score 2): This provides maximum filtering designed specifically for highly regulated industries where security heavily outweighs convenience.
Note: Access to the Strict and Compliance tiers depends on your active subscription plan. If a tier is locked, you can upgrade your plan from the Subscription & Billing page to unlock it.
Managing exceptions with custom lists
If you notice that safe emails from a specific business partner are constantly getting held, do not immediately relax your global spam threshold.
Instead, simply add that partner's domain (e.g., trusted-partner.com) to your Sender Allowlist on the Policies page. This tells MailShield that they are a trusted sender, completely bypassing the points system for them.
Conversely, if a persistent marketer keeps slipping into your inbox because they do not trigger enough spam points to cross your threshold, add their address to your Sender Denylist. Any future emails from them will be blocked automatically.
By using your Allowlist and Denylist to handle specific exceptions, you can keep your global spam policy nice and strict, ensuring your organisation remains fully protected.