Applies to: Exchange Server 2007 SP3, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007
Topic Last Modified: 2006-09-18

This topic explains how to use the Exchange Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell to enable and configure the spam confidence level (SCL) thresholds. The SCL threshold is the value at which a particular message is identified as potential spam and is acted on. The Content Filter agent is the last filter to scan inbound messages. Therefore, the settings of the SCL thresholds and threshold actions are very important. If you set the SCL thresholds too high, you may not reduce the spam that enters your organization. If you set the SCL thresholds too low, the risk is that you will filter messages from legitimate users.

You can enable and set each SCL threshold action to a value between 0 and 9, where 0 is considered less likely to be spam, and 9 is considered more likely to be spam.

Note:
After you configure the SCL threshold actions, you should periodically monitor these settings and adjust them based on your organization's needs.

You enable and set the SCL thresholds and corresponding actions as follows:

You can enable and configure the SCL thresholds and SCL threshold actions to work together. When you enable multiple SCL threshold actions to work together, consider the following requirements:

Before You Begin

To perform the following procedures on a computer that has the Edge Transport server role installed, you must log on by using an account that is a member of the local Administrators group on that computer.

Also, before you perform these procedures, confirm the following:

Procedure

To use the Exchange Management Console to enable and configure SCL thresholds and SCL threshold actions

  1. In the Exchange Management Console, click Edge Transport.

  2. In the work pane, click the Anti-spam tab, and then select Content Filtering.

  3. In the action pane, click Properties.

  4. Click the Action tab, and select the check box for the actions that you want to enable.

  5. Set the SCL thresholds for the corresponding actions.

  6. Click OK to save your changes and close the dialog box, or click Apply to save your changes without closing the dialog box.

To use the Exchange Management Shell to enable and configure SCL thresholds and SCL threshold actions

  • To enable the SCL reject action and configure the SCL reject threshold, run the following command:

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    Set-ContentFilterConfig -SCLRejectEnabled <$true | $false> -SCLRejectThreshold <Int32>
    

    For example, to reject messages that have an SCL rating of 8 or more, run the following command:

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    Set-ContentFilterConfig -SCLRejectEnabled $true -SCLRejectThreshold 8
    
  • To enable the SCL delete action and configure the SCL delete threshold, run the following command:

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    Set-ContentFilterConfig -SCLDeleteEnabled <$true | $false> -SCLDeleteThreshold <Int32>
    

    For example, to delete messages that have an SCL rating of 9 or more, run the following command:

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    Set-ContentFilterConfig -SCLDeleteEnabled $true -SCLDeleteThreshold 9
    
  • To enable the SCL quarantine action and configure the SCL quarantine threshold, run the following command:

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    Set-ContentFilterConfig -SCLQuarantineEnabled <$true | $false> -SCLQuarantineThreshold <Int32>
    

    For example, to send messages that have an SCL rating of 7 or more to the spam quarantine mailbox, run the following command:

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    Set-ContentFilterConfig -SCLQuarantineEnabled $true -SCLQuarantineThreshold 7
    

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Set-ContentFilterConfig.

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