spam score

A score assigned to a message by the anti-spam engine indicating the relative likelihood that the message is spam.

Anti-spam rules consist of a test definition and a "weight". If the test matches the message, the corresponding weight is added to the message’s total spam score. Generally, multiple rules must be triggered by a message in order to result in a spam score high enough for an action to be taken. SophosLabs constantly analyzes emerging spam techniques and updates the Email Appliance anti-spam rule sets accordingly.