O/T - Spam control

Yahoo Archive
1
Thanks to everyone for your responses. You all have given me/us a lot
to think about. It's odd and amazing to me that so many are on/using so
many different things.



Paul





--- In vantage@yahoogroups.com <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> ,
"Paul V. Blais" <pblais@...> wrote:
>
> What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
> PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
> are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let
me
> know.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Paul
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
2
What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let me
know.



Thanks,

Paul



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
3
We use Symantec's anti-spam products.

http://www.symantec.com/business/products/overview.jsp?pcid=2242&pvid=84
6_1



The above product comes with basic anti-spam protection and we purchased
the "Premium" anti-spam which works very well.

A true spam message might get by it one or two times a week.

It hasn't blocked a real message yet.

You can have spam redirected to another mailbox for monitoring.











From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Paul V. Blais
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 7:46 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] O/T - Spam control



What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let me
know.

Thanks,

Paul

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
4
We use a Barracuda Spam Filter

http://www.barracudanetworks.com/ns/?L=en

Bruce Palmer
Precision Products Inc.
1701 Industrial Drive
Greenwood, IN. 46143
bpalmer@...
www.prec-prod.com
Voice 317-882-1852 ext. 244
Fax 317-887-9743



________________________________

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Paul V. Blais
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 7:46 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] O/T - Spam control



What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let me
know.

Thanks,

Paul

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
5
Until we moved to Exchange 2007 we used Open relay Filter (ORF) from VamSoft. For $149 this product is amazing. Recommended to me by a fellow Yahoo groupie. I really liked it. Note, past tense. They are being really really pokey with an Exchange 2007 version. One of the key features I really miss is auto-safelisting that applies to all users as well as the ability to manually add to global safelist. One safelist feature was to auto-add any address anyone sent enail to...so once sent to never filtered. The On top of this were some pretty good keyword filtering tools and local blocking lists. It also can tap in to the more popular public block lists (see comment below). It was routinely stopping 98% of all spam with a very low incidence of false positives...quickly corrected by adding ot the safelist.

Exchange 2007 kaboshed all that (so far) but has some decent filtering of its own built in and seems to be doing OK for us. Big problem....the ability to add to a safelist is found only in the command shell interface and is not well documented. In fact none of this screwy comannd shell thing is very well documented. The management console only deals with maybe 50% of the possible settings for Exch2007. For example, it was only by trial and error that I found that the command to add to the safelist did not really "add" an address or domain but rebuilt the entire list. So now I add to the command in a notepad document and cut/paste the "new" list in order to add an address.

About the public block lists. HUGE hot topic here lately because we got put on a bunch of them. I just now, as of yesterday, got off the last of them at RoadRunner cable. If you have an indicence of a false positive it will often be through relying on these lists and your recipient being on the list. Unless they know they are blocked and inform you via phone,fax or alternative email to safelist them their messages will be blocked. Most of the block lists have hair trigger settings. We had a 45 minute virus infection on a PC a user had brought in from home that shot out junk on port 25 via its own SMTP mailer. That's all it took to shut us down for most recipients that have spam filtering. This was at the end of August....just now the last list has removed us. One of the worst was Microsoft blocking for MSN and Hotmail.

So the key, for me, to reducing false positives is the auto-safelisting of addresses sent to. At least then the false blocking will be limited to new email contacts.

-Todd C.

________________________________
From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Paul V. Blais
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 6:46 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] O/T - Spam control


What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let me
know.

Thanks,

Paul

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
6
Paul,

After years of combating this scourge of the earth... I've found no one
solution is sufficient.
We too run Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edt with Exchange 2007.
However I setup Sendmail on a BSD Unix server so as not to directly
expose our Exchange server to the outside world. Exchange relays to
Sendmail and vice versa. 100+ Email users.

Three Layers of Spam Control:
1. SpamAssassin on Sendmail
2. Intelligent Message Filters (IMF) on Exchange also using SCL (Spam
Confidence Level) ratings
3. Symantec Brightmail on Exchange

We have very few false positives and zero Spam delivered to the enduser
out of roughly 2500-3000 spam messages rejected or quarantined daily.

Regards, Lee


________________________________

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Paul V. Blais
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 7:46 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] O/T - Spam control



What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let me
know.

Thanks,

Paul
7
We only have aproximately 30 mailboxes so I decided to go with an
offsite sollution from US Internet called SecurenceMail. They do a
great job of blocking with very few instances of false-positives and we
don't have to deal with the added traffic.

Mark

--- In vantage@yahoogroups.com, "Paul V. Blais" <pblais@...> wrote:
>
> What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
> PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
> are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let
me
> know.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Paul
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
8
We have been using Postini for several years and it works great.


Roger



_____

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
rapat_mark
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 8:33 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Re: O/T - Spam control



We only have aproximately 30 mailboxes so I decided to go with an
offsite sollution from US Internet called SecurenceMail. They do a
great job of blocking with very few instances of false-positives and we
don't have to deal with the added traffic.

Mark

--- In vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com, "Paul V.
Blais" <pblais@...> wrote:
>
> What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
> PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
> are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let
me
> know.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Paul
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
9
I've worked at a company that used Symantec's entry-level Enterprise
product (I think it's BrightMail?) which they are still using today. I
also have experience with a Tumbleweed Mailgate
(http://www.tumbleweed.com/), a 19" rack-mount device that did an
*excellent* job of controlling SPAM and virus risk, and is very, very
easy to implement.

If money is an issue (and it almost always is), I'm currently using a
free plug-in for Exchange called ORFilter. It was not the easiest
interface to set up, and the rule-set has to be but it does work, and
the price was right.
http://martijnjongen.com/site/ORFilter/tabid/53/Default.aspx
It's better than nothing, and other than occasionally dumping valid
messages because they were sent from a hosting-company that's been
blacklisted (smaller companies outsourcing their email, home-users with
small ISPs), I think it does a very good job.

--Ari
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ari Footlik
IT Manager - R. A. Zweig


________________________________

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of BRUCE PALMER
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 7:53 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Vantage] O/T - Spam control



We use a Barracuda Spam Filter

http://www.barracudanetworks.com/ns/?L=en
<http://www.barracudanetworks.com/ns/?L=en>

Bruce Palmer
Precision Products Inc.
1701 Industrial Drive
Greenwood, IN. 46143
bpalmer@... <mailto:bpalmer%40prec-prod.com>
www.prec-prod.com
Voice 317-882-1852 ext. 244
Fax 317-887-9743

________________________________

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> ] On
Behalf
Of Paul V. Blais
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 7:46 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [Vantage] O/T - Spam control

What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let me
know.

Thanks,

Paul

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
10
We use US Internet as well, and I have been VERY
pleased with them. There are a few that get through,
but it zaps tens of thousands of messages per week.

DJ


--- rapat_mark <mtellefson@...> wrote:

> We only have aproximately 30 mailboxes so I decided
> to go with an
> offsite sollution from US Internet called
> SecurenceMail. They do a
> great job of blocking with very few instances of
> false-positives and we
> don't have to deal with the added traffic.
>
> Mark
>
> --- In vantage@yahoogroups.com, "Paul V. Blais"
> <pblais@...> wrote:
> >
> > What are companies using to control spam before it
> gets to the clients
> > PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that
> shouldn't have been? We
> > are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you
> need more info let
> me
> > know.
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Paul
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
> >
>
>
>


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
11
We have used a product called MailMarshal for over 5 years. We have
been extremely happy with it.



Dale



________________________________

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Paul V. Blais
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 6:46 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] O/T - Spam control



What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let me
know.

Thanks,

Paul

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
12
I have Exchange 2003 only using the built-in IMF filter. You can do
limited customization with it by looking for words in the subject or
body and adjusting the SCL number but you still get some spam messages
through and it blocks valid messages (about 2 - 5 a day). To mitigate
the blockage of valid messages I've written my own program to review
every message that is blocked and 1) check if the message is from a safe
sender list I've created then pick it up; 2) check if the message has
bad words specified in a list I manage (I'm sure you can guess some of
the words) and delete it; 3) any message not picked up or deleted I
review and decide if it is spam or a valid message (takes about 5
minutes a day).



Butch



________________________________

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Paul V. Blais
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 4:46 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] O/T - Spam control



What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let me
know.

Thanks,

Paul

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
13
Paul V. Blais wrote:
> What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
> PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
> are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let me

We outsource it to AppRiver.com after someone on this list suggested it two years ago. Very effective and very low false positives. Blocks spam as well as viruses and malware. Their minimum service level is $500/year for 50 users. We only use 5, but it's still worth it. They have a nice web based config & admin tool, can send each user a daily report of what's been quarantined, and also have an end-user web config.

You change your DNS MX record so all email is directed to them for filtering; the "good stuff" is then passed to you. This also helps your internet bandwidth, because the bad stuff is never transmitted to you.

-Wayne
14
We have the same setup and we use the GFI MailEssentials application.


--- In vantage@yahoogroups.com, "Paul V. Blais" <pblais@...> wrote:
>
> What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
> PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
> are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let
me
> know.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Paul
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
15
We are also using Open Relay Filter (ORF) by Vamsoft. It was
recommended to us by this group and we stand by it. It does everything
that Todd mentioned and it's very easy to use. You can develop Regular
Expressions (RegEx) to proactively block current and future SPAM. We
paid $200 total, $100 for the software and $100 for a year of support.
They also have a community group which consistently is
adding/recommending modules and enhancements, and is very helpful with
questions. Vamsoft is also very active with this community.

Todd is correct and Vamsoft has not release a version compatible with
Server 2007 but they are "working" on it. No worries on our end, I
don't think we're upgrading any time soon.

-Matt

--- In vantage@yahoogroups.com, "Paul V. Blais" <pblais@...> wrote:
>
> What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
> PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
> are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let
me
> know.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Paul
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
16
Paul,

I am using AppRiver and it works really well. I am blocking about 99%
of all email that is bound for my domain. The best part is is that all
gets blocked on AppRiver's side so it never clogs my Internet T-1 and
it is less than $80 per month and I have around 80 users.

My 2 cents
Jeff


--- In vantage@yahoogroups.com, "Paul V. Blais" <pblais@...> wrote:
>
> What are companies using to control spam before it gets to the clients
> PC's, have you ever had messaged blocked that shouldn't have been? We
> are using Window Server 2003 and Exchange. If you need more info let
me
> know.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Paul
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>