Understanding Spam
Did you know that over 90% of the email sent all over the world is spam? That means that if you receive 20 legitimate emails a day, you can count on receiving 180 spam messages as well.
And all that spam isn't benign. Sure, it's annoying, but the real concern is the phishing, viruses or other email threats spam brings to your network.
Why is there so much spam? Because it works. Spammers send their email messages to thousands of places and are guaranteed that some percentage of people will click their links. It's a statistical likelihood.
Need a spam filter? Need a better spam filter?
There are dozens of spam filters out there that use specific formulas for beating spam. Each one works differently. How and why emails are designated as spam is a complicated process, based on one company's perception of the best way to fight it. The important thing to know is that spam filtering is more like art, rather than science. Spammers keep coming up with new and innovative ways to get through filters, and the spam filter manufacturers scramble to write algorithms to fight each new threat.
In general, the better performing spam filters are more costly.
The goal is to balance your budget for spam filtering with your tolerance for spam.
For a low-budget solution, consider Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and its built-in spam filtering service. If you're already running an Exchange Server, this is a low cost solution. But it's not perfect. You will still get some spam. And you'll get more spam on days when spammers figure out new tactics, until Microsoft releases updates to the filter to block the new threat.
For a mid-budget solution, consider the service provided by Postini Email Security. This service routes all of your email to an external server, where the spam is sorted out, and the good mail is sent back to you. The benefit here is that you don't have to maintain any hardware or software. It's all taken care of for you.
If you're looking for the most effective solution, consider a Barracuda Spam Firewall. This hardware device sits on your network, protecting your email server with twelve layers of analysis. It's a great product that provides a high level of protection.
Call Trailhead Networks today to learn more.