Criteria for choosing an antispam solution

Users do everything in their power to prevent spam from arriving in their inboxes, as they are designated as virus vectors. To increase the effectiveness of anti-spam filters, they can rely on various methods and blacklists of polluting IP addresses such as Sender ID, SPF, CallerID, etc.

Selection based on detection rate and volumetry

The anti-spam solutions on the market each have their own specific features. The best must have a detection rate in excess of 99% (as a reminder, ALTOSPAM guarantees 99% spam filtering, in reality, effective filtering is of the order of 99.7%). But this difference in percentage can make the difference between them. The higher the spam detection rate, the more expensive the fee charged by publishers.

Nor should we overlook the spam filter’s ability to detect and avoid false positives among all e-mails received on the user’s server. These are legitimate e-mails, but filter software classifies them as spam.

Volumetry is also an important consideration. Nowadays, anti-spam filter editors offer companies a solution capable of handling and processing the mass of emails received on their server.

Prioritize filtering with antivirus and intrusion detection systems

Since spam is often the gateway tophishing attempts, worms, viruses, Trojans and other cyber-attacks, the anti-spam solution’s mission is to secure not only the terminal, but also the user’s e-mail. The best solution would therefore be one that includes antivirus software or an intrusion detection system. They are often produced by the same publisher or by a partner.

Even if the user uses the cloud, anti-spam solutions will effectively protect the mailbox. At the same time, it will enrich the common signature database by reporting any threats encountered. SaaS anti-spam solutions have also proven their effectiveness in securing e-mail.

Outgoing message protection

Initially, the spam filter was dedicated to protecting incoming e-mail flows. However, some solutions now offer the option of filtering outgoing messages at the same time (ALTOSPAM offers theMailOut option for this). The aim is to prevent sensitive information from leaving the company by e-mail, for example. These solutions are also available from publishers who also market Data Loss Prevention solutions.

In short, the anti-spam solutions chosen by users need to be customized, and then stand out for their simplicity of implementation and use. Users often want a monitoring console, so they can follow the progress of their incoming and outgoing e-mail flows in detail. It’s also a good way of freeing up any false positives blocked by the anti-spam filter, and to consult the list of viruses, worms, spam and other malware that have tried to get onto users’ terminals.