Email - Using the Campus Graymail service provided by the Information Security Office (ISO)

The Information Security Office works with campus email providers to block spam and other malicious emails before they even get to your Inbox. This new service is an effort to further improve the campus email experience by focusing on graymail, email that is not spam, but is often email that you do not want or need to read. Rather than manually create filters for this email, the Graymail service moves this class of email into your Junk mailbox, where it stays for 30 days before being deleted. It is important that you monitor your Junk mailbox as you begin to use this service, and it will "learn" from your actions.

Using the Graymail service

1. To make use of this Graymail service, please send an email to security@utexas.edu with the Subject line: "Please add me to the Campus Graymail service."  That's it!
   
2. Begin to monitor your Junk email box. If you notice an email that you wanted to receive, simply drag it to your Inbox.
   
3. If you see messages in your Inbox that you did not want to read, simply drag them to your Junk mailbox.
4. The Graymail service will "learn" from your actions over time. My approach was to do this every day for a week, then once a week, once every two weeks, etc, etc. If you do a lot with outside vendors or services, you may see a substantial reduction in your email volume!
5. Enjoy the fact that you were able to reduce your email volume without creating a single filter rule, simply by adding this service. As the ISO gains more information from usage of this tool, it may be extended to all accounts on the Microsoft 365 mail platform.

Troubleshooting Tips

1. An email I needed is now found in the Junk mailbox. What do I do?
   

   1. Solution: Drag the email to your Inbox

2. I keep getting an email that I do not want.  What do I do?
   
   1. Solution: Drag the email to your Junk mailbox.
3. I searched for an email I needed, and found several of them in the Junk mailbox. What should I do?
   1. It is IMPORTANT that you monitor how the Graymail service works, at least for a while.  Drag all of these emails back to your Inbox, and continue monitoring your Junk mailbox. Over time, the Graymail service will "learn" your preferences, and act accordingly.  It is VERY important to monitor this for a while as you begin to use this service, and then do so monthly.  Email in your Junk mailbox is deleted after 30 days, so if you let 25 days of Junk email accumulate, then drag anything out you need to your Inbox,  the Graymail service will begin to do this for you.

• https://abnormalsecurity.com/glossary/graymail
• https://abnormalsecurity.com/blog/enhancing-remediation-controls-unwanted-mail