PureNet(SM) Turnkey Managed Internet Security

"NCS DataCom, Inc., has introduced PureNet(SM) managed security services, a turnkey network based Internet security solution. PureNet represents a new breed of corporate Internet security services that provides a fully managed and thoroughly secure, "clean" Internet connection while eliminating the need for customer purchased and housed equipment. This approach is the most cost-effective means of securing corporate data, including customer information, and complying with regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and Gramm-Leach-Bliley. PureNet applies all the functionalities of intrusion detection and prevention, firewall management, anti-virus, -spyware, -malware, and -adware, SPAM Filtering, Managed VPN and Secure Remote Access to the Internet connection or 'pipe' before it even reaches the corporate network." Source: BusinessWire

Why Microsoft's Spam Ploy Is No Solution

"Why Microsoft's spam ploy is no solution by ZDNet's Marc Wagner -- Microsoft's ploy to drum up business for its spam-filtering technology will probably be successful! That said, from my experience, the number of people depending upon e-mail forwarding must be considerable -- from an e-mail volume standpoint, perhaps staggering! Being an alumnus of two universities, having a primary e-mail address at work, a wireless e-mail address, [...]" Source: ZDnet.com

IMF Tune Whitelisting, Blacklisting and SCL Management to Beef Up the Exchange Intelligent Message Filter

"WinDeveloper Software – WinDeveloper announced the release of IMF Tune v2.5. The product further builds on the Exchange Intelligent Message Filter adding support for Whitelisting, Blacklisting and SCL Management. This update is free to IMF Tune v2.0 licensed users. Whitelists enable the identification of legitimate emails. The SCL rating assigned by IMF is overridden so as to ensure email delivery to the recipient Inbox. On the other hand, Blacklisting provides the counter measure to unfiltered SPAM. Just like any other SCL rating, handling of blacklisted emails is fully configurable. One can choose from rejecting, deleting, rerouting, archiving, logging or forcing delivery to the Junk Email folder." Source: eMediaWire

Spam Blocker 2.1 Released

"The new version of Spam Blocker 2.1 delivered by the SoftInform company provides maximum efficient protection for user computer (user mailbox in particular) from torrents of "spam". This is due to the fact that all correspondence is analyzed before it is downloaded from the mail server. The application checks the mail and retrieves the headings of all letters pending in the user mailbox (email addresses, sender names, letter subjects, etc.)." Source: SoftInform via Free-Press-Release.com

FrontBridge Technologies Selected by AlwaysOn as Top 100 Private Company Award Winner

"FrontBridge delivers fully managed, Internet-based services that ensure the security, compliance and continuity of email and instant messaging. Its unique Total Message Management portfolio includes technology for email and instant message archiving, virus scanning, spam filtering, email encryption, content control, policy enforcement, and business continuity, enabling companies to consolidate their converging messaging requirements to a single outsourcing partner." Source: ArriveNet.com

Microsoft Adopts Spam-Fighting System

"Microsoft Corp is stepping up the pressure on email senders to adopt its Sender ID spam-fighting technology despite problems that could send up to 10% of legitimate messages to junk folders. By the end of the year, Microsoft's Hotmail and MSN services will get more aggressive at rejecting mail sent through companies or service providers that do not register their domain names with the Sender ID system." Source: tvnz.co.nz

MailCOPA Email Software 6.02 Download

"MailCOPA, simply the best email software available. It is the most powerful out-of-the-box email software you can purchase to date. Why? Not only is MailCOPA easy to use but it is pre-configured to aggressively combat SPAM and viruses and is fully multi-user and multi-machine capable. In addition to being a great help to small and medium sized businesses, MailCOPA also has some great features for home users." Source: techspot.com

5 Zero Cost Spam Prevention Tools

5 Zero-Cost tools to prevent junk cluttering your mail box:
1. 0spam.com, - For the POP3 Mail user.
2. SpamPal, - The Desktop Solution
3. Enkoder Form 6.0, - A Simple Solution for the Webmaster
4. Master SpamBot Buster, - A Thorough CGI Solution
5. NATATA Anti-Spam Encoder, - Desktop Solution
Source: SelfSEO.com

A Practical Approach to Eliminate Spam

"The best way, of course, would be not to buy any product or service offered by a spammer. If they don't make any money as a result of their spamming, they eventually will get the message and stop. However, this solution would have to be undertaken on a global scale to be effective and there must be plenty of people who are reading and acting on the spammer's message to prevent this from happening. Although I can't for the life of me figure out why! Another solution that you and I, as individuals, can do is delete the email and more importantly not buy from the spammer. Like trashing "junk mail", turning off the "informercial" on TV or not answering the phone when it's a "telemarketer". You can take an individual stand." Source: Selfseo.com

Understand How Various Spam Software Works

"When considering how to protect your mail system from spam, you'll find that there are way too many choices in the marketplace to be able to possibly evaluate them all. Since each solution handles spam differently, it's important to understand the various methods by which spam filters do their deeds. There are four major types of spam technology available: Bayesian, Whitelist and blacklist, Content-based, Challenge/response. Each is discussed in the article." Source: TechRepublic.com

Greater Protection During Email Transmission

"Barracuda Networks, Inc., the leading provider of enterprise-class spam firewall solutions, today announced all Barracuda Spam Firewall models will include support for STARTTLS (Transport Layer Security), the standard SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) feature for encryption of email communications. The STARTTLS command is used to negotiate an encrypted session using TLS, adding an increased layer of security by encrypting the email transmission channel as messages cross the Internet." Source: TMCnet.com

Microsoft Pushes Spam-Filtering Technology

"If your e-mail does not have a Sender ID, Microsoft wants to junk your message. Sometime around November, Hotmail and MSN will flag as potential spam those messages that do not have the tag to verify the sender, Craig Spiezle, a director in the technology care and safety group at the software maker said Wednesday. The move is meant to spur adoption of Sender ID, he said." Source: News.com.com

Enhanced Email SPAM and Virus Control

"Electric Mail, a provider of managed secure email services to businesses, today announced the immediate availability of an enhanced version of PerimeterProtect(TM), its comprehensive solution that delivers up-front email messaging protection and continuity through SPAM and content filtering, as well as virus blocking. PerimeterProtect offers improved message quarantining, enhanced reporting, policy and service control, as well as tighter integration with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2000 -- creating a fast, powerful and cost-effective solution that significantly reduces enterprise email headaches." Source: BusinessWire

Ending Spam

"No Starch Press, publishers of the finest in geek entertainment, has announced the release of "Ending Spam: Bayesian Content Filtering and the Art of Statistical Language Classification" (No Starch Press, July '05) by Jonathan Zdziarski. This important new title describes, in-depth, how next-generation spam filters work to identify and dispose of spam. It cracks open the "black box" to reveal the guts of spam filtering techniques and will be a fascinating read for those writing next generation spam filters, sys admins who need to implement them, gearheads who need to satisfy their desire to know how things work, and, of course, spammers who want insights into beating the filters." Source: ITObserver

Trend Micro Acquires Kelkea

"SecureData, a member of the JSE-listed ERP.com Group, and the southern African distributor for Trend Micro security software, today announced that the latter's US operation had acquired Kelkea, a leading authority on IP filtering and reputation services. This acquisition advances the opportunity for Trend Micro to develop network-level solutions against emerging and evolving threats such as phishing, pharming, and those that can be launched via botnets; and thus enhance its current anti-spam solutions." Source: itWEB

Yahoo Allows for Personal Spam Filtering

"I just noticed that Yahoo is allowing users to block search results. You click the “block” link and this prevents the result from showing up in future searches. I can see Yahoo using this data to implement Bayesian filtering for personalized web searches. As people continue to block and save sites in My Web, the filter gradually will define what people see as spam or relevant." Source: SearchEngineJournal.com

A Remedy For Weak Spam Filters

"You should consider a permission-based e-mail scheme like the $39.95 Choice Mail software. The software sends a message to the sender of each piece of unrecognized e-mail asking for a "registration" response before it will be delivered to you. Most spam senders use fake return addresses and won't know you replied. Outfits that do get your permission message can answer a question or two, and the software will use rules to decide whether to pass it along.Since the vast majority of desired e-mail comes from people who are on your list of addresses, this scheme doesn't insult many people. And once these folks get through the first time, you can decide whether to accept them in the future or put them in your delete queue." Source: NJ.com

Spam-Slammer IronPort Hits Fast Track

"The email software company, which protects Dell Computers, Ryder System Inc., Johns Hopkins University and other customer emails against spam and viruses, tripled revenue to $31 million last year and expects to be profitable this year. Instead of recipients filtering out "bad" emails from known spammers or analyzing emails' content, IronPort enables senders to get on a "good guy" list, posting a bond to vouch for their reputation and ensure emails aren't filtered as spam." Source: MSNBC

Spamblocks Makes Waves in the Spam-Free Market

"SpamBlocks the preeminent provider in spam - filtering solutions has declared the enormous accomplishment with an increasing customer base. Since its launch in April 05 SpamBlocks has been providing 99% spam protection with challenge response, with its in - built anti - virus, you can even filter your emails based on customized filters. SpamBlocks also offers blocking of authorized domains and email addresses, auto detection and blocking of the known spammers. Reporting tools are a very important feature of SpamBlocks, MailTrends and SpamTrends, give the statistical overview of your mailbox." Source: PowerHomeBiz.com

Continuous Updates Give Real-Time Protection

"The FortiGuard™ Security Subscription Services are a family of four complementary services that keep Fortinet systems up-to-date and safe from unwanted and malicious network traffic through continuous and automatic "push" updates that ensure protection against the latest viruses, worms, Trojans, Spyware and other threats – without required network administrative time or oversight." Source: Fortinet via ComputerWorld

Trend Micro Acquires Kelkea

"Antivirus vendor Trend Micro (Quote, Chart) Tuesday said it acquired Internet filter maker Kelkea in an effort to fortify its security technology base. The move immediately beefs up the outfit's spam credentials and moves it closer to tackling increasing phishing and pharming scams, which it has plans to address later this year." Source: internetnews.com

Endian Firewall

"Endian Firewall is a turn-key Linux security distribution based on IPCop that turns a system into a security appliance. The features include a stateful packet inspection firewall, application-level proxies for various protocols (HTTP, POP3, SMTP) with anti-virus support, virus and spam filtering for E-mail traffic (POP and SMTP), content filtering of Web traffic and VPN (based on OpenVPN). Endian Firewall is a pure Open source solution that is commercially supported by Endian." Source: enterprisepanet.com

E-mail Security Appliances Are Good For Users

"The announcement by value-added distributor AmVia that it has released a range of high performance e-mail security appliances to the local market is music to the ears of those seeking a maintenance-free answer to securing enterprise mail servers. The IronPort C-Series of Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) gateway appliances provide advanced threat protection against virus attacks, spam, false-positives, denial of service (DoS) attacks, misdirected bounces and phishing (fraud), and enable corporate e-mail policy enforcement, all from a single, centralised box." Source: itweb.co.za

California Spam Filtering Experts Fight Junk Mail in Asia

"Mail-Filters.com, Inc., provider of technology that filters billions of messages a day in more than 100 countries and 30 languages for its OEM partners, and Singapore-based Crodo Technologies announce the selection of Mail-Filters as the new anti-spam technology for Crodo's world class Universal Protection System (UPS)." Source: marketWIRE

Streaming Anti-Spam Updates

"McAfee, Inc., the leader in Intrusion Prevention and Security Risk Management, today announced the availability of Streaming Updates for McAfee(R) SpamKiller(R) and McAfee WebShield(R) Appliances. With Streaming Updates, McAfee SpamKiller and McAfee WebShield customers are now able to receive proactive spam updates every five to ten minutes, providing the most proactive protection against spammers and their evolving techniques." Source: PRNewsWire

Frankly My Dear, I Don't Give a Spam

"Many businesses are still filtering email and killing spam in-house,using either software installed on their mail server, or by installing specialist hardware (appliances) at the network edge. Others are choosing to keep spam at bay by outsourcing the problem and subscribing to a hosted filtering service. The market for these services is about to hot up, as more vendors set up in Europe and seek resellers." Source: VNUnet

The Economics of Spam

"Spam is an industry. Mass e-mailers maintain lists of e-mail addresses, often "harvested" by spamware bots - specialized computer applications - from Web sites. These lists are rented out or sold to marketers who use bulk mail services. They come cheap - c. $100 for 10 million addresses. Bulk mailers provide servers and bandwidth, charging c. $300 per million messages sent." Source: Global Politician

Combating Cellphone Spam

"Both MiPhone and Cable and Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) have measures in place to combat cellular spam once it is detected. At C&WJ, customers are advised to report incidents of spamming to the company call centre and once a purveyor of unsolicited mail is detected they are blacklisted." Source: JamaicaObserver

G-Lock SpamCombat Anti-Spam Filter for Windows

"G-Lock SpamCombat is e-mail client independent, supports POP3 and IMAP, and can be configured to work with popular web-based e-mail services, like Hotmail and Yahoo. AOL users can use it as well. The price of registering the program is 35 US Dollars. The trial version is available as well. While the trial version works with one e-mail account only, it never expires and has no other functional limitations." Source: INewswire

Spam Can Be Managed

"Unwanted ‘spam’ email jams up our email boxes and is an annoyance we could do without - here are some strategies to avoid spam. You can make your e-mail address a smaller target for spammers, and you can shunt aside a healthy chunk of the spam that does find you. If you can keep your address off spammers' lists, you will get little or no junk e-mail. So never post your e-mail address on any public spot on the Web, and be choosy about giving it to strangers or companies." Source: Deccan Herald

Microsoft Adds Sender ID Anti-Spoofing Protocol To Exchange 2003 SP2

"When it launches later this year, Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) will support Sender ID, Microsoft's sender authentication scheme, the Redmond, Wash.-based developer said. The addition of Sender ID to Exchange 2003 SP2 will be the first time Microsoft's mail server includes an authentication technology, although Microsoft has been pushing the scheme for more than a year. It's also been using Sender ID on its free Hotmail e-mail service, where it claimed the authentication has reduced spam and phishing scams, although it hasn't released hard numbers." Source: Information Week

Degunking Your Email, Spam, and Viruses

"Everyone who works in technical support knows the feeling of dread when someone asks what they do for a living, only for an immediate response of "Oh my PC has been running slowly recently, any ideas?". This book is meant for those people who don't know their worms from their trojans, and who've been having a strange problem where they click on a link to one page, but end up at another." Source: spamfo.co.uk

MCI to Announce New Service to Protect Managed Services Customers From DDoS Attacks

"MCI is set to announce a new service to protect its managed services customers from DDoS attacks as AT&T adds new anti-spam and anti-spyware protection to its portfolio of managed security services. Responding to an increase in threats, as well as demands from its customers, MCI Inc. will announce a new service this week to protect its managed services customers from DDoS attacks, according to an MCI executive. The MCI news is the latest move by the company to increase its security posture following its January purchase of security services company NetSec Inc." Source: Monsters & Critics

Toshiba to Adopt IIJ's Anti-spam Solution

"Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (IIJ), one of Japan's leading Internet access and comprehensive network solutions providers, today announced that it will provide Toshiba Corporation (Toshiba) with an anti-spam solution. The anti-spam solution being provided to Toshiba consists of two components: IIJ Edge Filter and IIJ Spam Mail Filter. The IIJ Edge Filter identifies and restricts mass spam mail that is sent to a single server in a short period of time, as well as mail that clearly contains suspicious content. The IIJ Spam Mail Filter determines a spam rating for all incoming mail messages and filters them on that basis. IIJ Edge Filter was implemented in December of last year, while IIJ Spam Mail Filter will be implemented in June of this year." Source: Business Wire

A Complete Managed Services Communications Suite

"NEC Unified Solutions, Inc., (NEC) a leader in converged voice and data communications solutions announced today NEC Secure(TM), a complete managed services suite for the enterprise and small-to-medium business (SMB) markets. The NEC Secure family of services includes the NEC SecurePlus Monitoring Service, NEC Secure Message Protection Suite and NEC Secure Advantage - all of which significantly reduce network downtime, increase productivity and ensure customers' networks are available even during disaster and emergency situations. Through the suite, NEC ensures customers are protected from the latest e-Mail based malware, viruses, and spam." Source: NEC Unified Solutions, Inc.

Spam Killer MailWasher Pro

"MailWasher Pro allows you to preview and delete unwanted email from an unlimited number of accounts before it reaches your inbox. It is compatible with POP3 and IMAP email accounts along with webmail such as Gmail and Hotmail. The software offers dynamic spam filtering and learns your mail preferences. It can also bounce back unwanted email to spammers so it looks as if your email address is not valid." Source: SMH

Phishers Get Smarter

"Phishing attacks are getting harder to spot as cybercriminals become increasingly skilled at disguising their fraudulent Web sites. A lot of the recent phishing sites use hijacked servers where the scam is located on the domain of a legitimate enterprise. This tactic gives the scammers the advantage of having a link that leads to a legitimate domain that cannot be blacklisted. In fact, it is likely that such a phishing message would get through a spam filter that uses ‘whitelisting’." Source: ZDNet

Anti-Spam Duty

"The Chennai-based Aspire Systems says it can help fight spam - with its spam filter, Mail Guard. Its features include, according to the company, automatic filtering of e-mails, notification of progress, spam notification, cleaning existing e-mail folders, managing context stamp derived out of spam e-mails and managing spam senders. The company says a key aim of this product is to increase the productivity of e-mail users." Source: The Hindu Business Line

Program Allows Spam Removal from Webmail

"If spam is in your Purdue Webmail inbox, you can fix that problem. The Purdue Webmail server can receive around one million spam messages in a day. But the PureMessage system filters out most of them. Students are automatically put on the spam filter system, said Jade Cloud, ITaP technical writer." Source: The Purdue Exponent

Hotmail Broadens White-List Support With Habeas

"The company said yesterday it will implement Habeas' email SafeList whitelist system at Hotmail this fall. The deal follows Hotmail's May 2004 implementation of Bonded Sender, a similar system now owned by Return Path. Like Bonded Sender, Habeas offers a white-list approach to spam filtering. Volume email senders who have registered their mail transfer agents on the SafeList ensure that their email always gets through to the intended recipients." Source: Computer Business Review Online

A Solution for SPAM?

"Large corporations, with financial and technical resources to draw upon, have been able to use hardware or software solutions that catch and eliminate junk before it reaches their employees' e-mail boxes, protecting them as a whole. However, small and medium enterprises have been less fortunate; they have fewer resources to allocate to solve this problem. We have had to rely on spam filtering software to separate out the spam, but it first must be downloaded to our e-mail inbox before this filtering occurs. One solution is a service called Spam Arrest (www.spamarrest.com). When you visit their Web site, an online demo shows how Spam Arrest works and how to implement it. It does not require that you install any software on your machine. It works with most e-mail programs and with all browsers. It is inexpensive and can be evaluated in a free, 30-day trial." Source: DMReview

AT&T Expands Network Security Portfolio for Enterprises With Protection Against Spam and Spyware

"To meet the increasingly complex network security requirements of its business and government customers, AT&T today announced expansions to its portfolio of managed security services: a network-based, e-mail security and content management service for inbound and outbound e-mail messages; application policy enforcement and anti-spyware functionality within the local area network; and expanded consulting services designed to address security compliance requirements." Source: PRNewsWire

Record High Spam Volume Totals in May

"FrontBridge Technologies Inc., a leading provider of secure managed messaging services, today noted more than 7.2 billion messages were transmitted across its network, blocking more than 85 percent as spam and rejecting more than 319 million virus-laden emails. Peak spam levels during the month exceeded 95 percent three times. Despite May's record high message volume totals, FrontBridge customers were protected from the onslaught that brought down email operations for companies relying on non-scalable appliances." Source: Arrivenet