Product
| Platform Options
| Cost
| Filtering/Blocking Methods
| Spam Handling Methods
| Scalability
| Coolness Factor
|
| Alligate | Gateway | Licensed
per domain, starting at $595 for one and up to $9,995 for unlimited. Annual renewal is approx. 60 percent of purchase price. | Employs just about every method of detecting spam available--highly configurable. White/blacks list can be defined per domain, group, and individual. |
Impressive array of options for handling spam. Allows adult content spam to be treated differently from other spam. | Works with any SMTP mail server. Supports clustering--can work with any number of servers. They guarantee that it will eliminate over 98 percent of spam. |
Very cool picture of an alligator |
Review: | Appliance | Competitively priced per appliance, no per user/domain charges: range from $1,199 to $3,999. Evaluation unit available free. All models include virus detection. Annual subscription charge. |
Offers an extremely comprehensive layered approach to spam detection including customer-built filters, Bayesian analysis, black/white lists, checksum, spam weighting, and denial of service detection. | Delete or redirect to quarantine/s--spam remains in quarantine for 30 days for user/ admin review. | Very scalable--will work with any e-mail server. Can handle over 10 million messages a day. Different models available for estimated mail loads. |
Just plug it in between the Internet and the mail server/s--no software installation or configuration required. |
Reviews: | Gateway Relay E-mail server Hosted Appliance | Not the cheapest solution. Priced per user in blocks. For example 1-49: $1,499 per year. Downloadable free trial. | URL rules; blacklist maintained by Brightmail; whitelist; header rules; body hash rules and heuristics. | Different configurations based on rule/domain or subdomain. End user quarantines for Domino and Exchange. Messages can be modified, forwarded to a specific address, or deleted. |
Very scalable, especially when installed at gateway level--supports more than 10 million mailboxes. Easy to add additional Brightmail servers. |
Brightmail
plug-in--allows the end user to forward spam to Brightmail for analysis. Available for popular mail clients. |
Reviews: | Appliance Gateway E-mail server (Desktop) | Free downloadable trial. Priced per user, e.g., $18,600 for 1000 users. Desktop version is free. Includes antivirus/ web filter/ antivandal/ antihack security. |
Includes
black/white lists, DNS verification, keyword blocking, antispoofing, and heuristics. |
Limited
options for handling--delete, send message to sender, modify header, and
send to recipient. No quarantine options. | E-mail system independent. Very scalable by using a gateway version. | Great visual display of SMTP traffic on server. |
Reviews: | E-mail server Gateway | Very affordable. Free downloadable trial. Priced per mail box, e.g., $275 for 10 mailboxes, up to $1,195 for unlimited. |
Fairly configurable with reasonable number of options but requires understanding of Bayesian Analysis. Configuration involves four basic methods: lists, header, keyword, and Bayesian Analysis. Read the manual--this is not an intuitive setup. |
Spam can be deleted, moved to a folder, forwarded to a public email address or folder, or sent to individual customizable folders (for example, a "junk mail" folder) in the end users' inboxes. | For Exchange and SMTP only. | Features server-based, personalized replies. Assigns a tracking number to each reply and can also include attachments. |
Reviews: | Desktop | Reasonably priced at $19.95 per desktop (this allows both the Outlook and Outlook Express versions to be installed). Free evaluation download. |
No
configuration required--simply install, reboot, and start e-mail client. Automatically adds contacts to white list. Black/white lists can be edited. Can create own rules and set a general threshold. |
Outlook:
Spam is redirected to a quarantine folder. Outlook Express: Spam is placed in the deleted items. |
Outlook and Outlook Express only. | Allows for easy reporting of spam--although some users claim that using this feature generated even more spam. |
|
Review: | E-mail server Gateway | Free downloadable trial. Reasonably priced per mailbox, also available in packs. Starts at $395 for up to 25 users (maintenance is extra). | Configurable from global to user level--can set different rules and handling options for users/groups. Claims to detect over 90 percent of spam depending upon settings. |
Immediate
delete or forward to end user's quarantine. Limited options. | Exchange 5.5, 2000 or 2003. Scalable only within an Exchange environment. | Free T-shirt or mug with download! |
|
Reviews: | E-mail server | Free downloadable trial. Starts at $395 for up to 25 users (maintenance is extra). | Integrates with Exchange 2000/3 and Active Directory. Claims to detect over 90 percent or 95 percent of spam depending which information you read on the web site. Uses MMC interface--great for 2000 administrators. | Central quarantine or immediate delete. No other options. | Exchange 2000 or 2003. Scalable only within an Exchange environment. | Free T-shirt or mug with download! |
Reviews: | Appliance | Expensive, starts around $20,000--no user limit. But also includes virus and intrusion detection. | Highly configurable--mix of rules/lists and intelligence. Can specify different rules, etc. based on groups/individuals. Browser-based interface. |
Personal quarantine option selectable by user/group. Spam can also be deleted. | Highly scalable as it is e-mail system independent--sits between firewall and e-mail server/s. Compatible with ANY e-mail system. | Ability to encrypt mail based on content. Supports PGP, S/MIME, SSL/TLS. |
MailFrontier Anti-Spam Gateway 2.0 Reviews:
| Gateway | Subscription based: somewhat pricey at $10-$15 per user per year. | A "good" mail profile can be defined based on each company's needs. Users have their own white list and black list in addition to central lists. Uses Bayesian filtering and decoy accounts. Claims to block 98 percent of spam. |
Junk mailbox summaries are supplied to users to review to allow them to retrieve false positives. | Client: Outlook and Notes. Server: Exchange, Domino, and Sun Solaris Sendmail. Limited to English character sets. | Users can control what is/is not junk mail in addition to centrally controlled filtering. |
Review:
| Service | Free trial. Includes a virus solution. Various pricing schemes depending upon options selected, e.g., $34.95 for 0-20 users per month. |
Each message is subjected to 20 independent tests and weighted. | A suspected spam is either held for review by an administrator or marked as "Possible Spam" and sent to the recipient. They claim a current rate of false positives at their highest threshold level as < .005 percent. | Very scalable/flexible. Two services: scan mail and forward to in-house e-mail server or scan and host (each user has 10MB mailbox). |
Nothing to install or maintain. |
Postini Perimeter Manager Enterprise Edition Reviews:
| Service | Price
structure is based on number of users, e.g., 500-100: $17 per user per
year. A complete e-mail security solution--including disaster recovery. | Features "Postini Industry Heuristics"--industry specific heuristics to minimize false positives. Policies are defined by the administrator on a per user, group, or domain basis. Browser-based management. End user's can fine-tune their settings. |
Users can receive a quarantine report and decide whether to have the mail delivered or deleted. | Virtually limitless scalability as it requires no hardware/software to be installed--simply redirect all MX records to Postini's operation center. | Check out the Postini web site to view worldwide, real-time spam stats. |
Reviews: | Desktop | Free trial. Very cheap at $19.95. | Easy to configure. Becomes more effective with use. Very little user invention required. Adds a very intuitive toolbar to e-mail client. |
Easy to bounce spam and report spammers. | Limited to Outlook, Outlook Express, Incredimail, Eudora, and Hotmail. | Very satisfying to add e-mail addresses to a list called "enemies." |
Reviews:
| Desktop | Reasonably priced at $29.99. Free downloadable trial. Annual renewal to continue to receive updates. | Simple configuration. Uses five independent tests on each message including "SpamTricks" (Bayesian analysis). Customize level of protection required on a scale of 1-100. |
Claims to block 99 percent of spam. | Works with all Exchange or POP3 clients. Integrates into Outlook and/or Hotmail. In Outlook spam is redirected to a SpamCatcher folder. | Very fast installation and configuration. |
Reviews:
| Desktop | Free downloadable trial. $24.95 for full product download. |
Detection
methods include keyword, white list, and real-time black list. Very easy to configure and add own filters. No Bayesian filtering. Detects spam before it is downloaded to mail client. |
Detected
spam can be deleted, bounced, or locally archived. Claims a 90+ percent hit rate. |
Very
limited scalability works with any POP3 client except Juno, MSN, or AOL. No limit to number of POP3 accounts it can scan on one computer. | Nice cut/paste feature for reporting spammers to SpamCop. |
| Desktop | One of the more expensive PC solutions--$34.95-$39.95. | Easy
to add senders/key words to black list. Nice white list feature. Simple to setup, even for multiple e-mail accounts (doesn't integrate with the mail client). Updates itself with lists of known spammers. |
Quarantines spam outside of inbox. | Works with any POP3 and MAPI clients and Hotmail. | Uncool feature: installs the McAfee Security Center complete with frequent pop-ups requesting updates. | |
Reviews: | Server | Downloadable free trial and online demo. Priced per user, e.g., 500 users for $9,000. |
Options include administrator and user-defined black/white lists, heuristics, antispoof and antirelay protection, databases of known spammers subdivided by category. | Three
options for handling spam: immediate delete, quarantine, or delayed delivery. Selections can be individualized. | Two versions are available: SMTP or Exchange 5.5--the SMTP version has rather more features and is platform independent allowing for expansion. | Includes five foreign language dictionaries for keyword blocking. |