Anti-Spam For Exchange Server

Benefits from Using Anti-Spam Together with Exchange Server

If you’re a serious audiophile, then you will never be satisfied with the stock stereo system in your car. Does it work? Sure, but good enough doesn’t always cut it. The same can be said for email security.

There are plenty of products that come with enhanced security features to help better protect their users. Sure they work, but they often fall short of what you would expect from a comprehensive solution.

When it comes to Exchange anti-spam nothing could be further from the truth.

Included in the later versions of Microsoft Exchange Server, 2003 and later, is anti-spam functionality. With a few configurations, Exchange can lower the volume of spam emails reaching your users’ inboxes.

But like the stock stereo, it’s not something that an organization that is serious about its security would rely on. It works, it is adequate, but it doesn’t offer the same level of protection as it would when combined with a third-party solution.
And the benefits of these anti-spam solutions clear up any thoughts that adequate spam protection is just fine; here’s why:

5 Benefits from Using Anti-Spam Together with Exchange Server

1. Fighting spam is their focus
2. They are up on the latest spam fighting techniques
3. You get real time protection from updated lists
4. They stop spoofing
5. Your users are part of the process

1. Fighting spam is their focus

Exchange is really good at managing emails, contacts and calendars; but no one would make the claim that it is at the top of the list as a spam fighter.

A clear benefit to enhancing Exchange with a solution from an industry leader in the security field is that you are getting a product that focuses on security first. That is what it is built for. Let Exchange handle your emails and let your anti-spam solution keep the bad stuff out.

2. They are up on the latest spam fighting techniques

At one time allow and block lists were key components in the fight against spam. However email borne threats have since evolved to bypass simple content filtering and black lists. Techniques like Bayesian filtering are a must to stop today’s spammers in their tracks.

Furthermore, modern day anti-spam solutions need to adapt to new methods used by spammers that have not been identified so that the risk of being attacked by a zero-day threat via email is minimized.

3. You get real time protection from updated lists

No one can know who the sender is and where every piece of spam comes from. To help track known spammers, DNS block lists publish databases of computers and networks that have been linked to sending spam. It is important that any anti-spam solution supports these block lists but also has it own signature files and databases to help identify spam and known spammers.

4. They stop spoofing

Spammers aren’t stupid. They don’t send junk email from their own email address.
Instead, they forge the sender address. This allows them to remain anonymous and fool people into believe that they are a legitimate, trusted sender.

Without support for the SPF (Sender Policy Framework), your anti-spam solution won’t be able to check if an email is genuine or if the sender’s address has been forged.

5. Your users are part of the process

When you choose an anti-spam solution that only allows you or your IT staff to manage it, you’re going to battle with a handicap. If you use a solution that allows employees to join in the fight by managing quarantined emails sent to them, your chances of stopping spam will increase.

Not only does this functionality give employees a sense of ownership when it comes to addressing email security, but it helps your system ‘learn’ what is spam and what is legitimate email. When individuals have the ability to flag an item as spam or retrieve an email that has been falsely identified as junk, the system better understands how to identify unwanted mail across the organization.

Supplementing Exchange anti-spam with a third-party anti-spam solution is a must if you’re looking for more than ‘adequate’ email security.

This guest post was provided by Jeff Orloff on behalf of GFI Software Ltd. GFI is a leading software developer that provides a single source for network administrators to address their network security, content security and messaging needs. Learn more about third party solutions to use together with you Exchange anti-spam.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

See more Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 topics:

• Exchange 2010  • SMTP Auth Login  • Address Policies in Exchange 2010  • New-SystemMessage

• Monitoring Exchange  • Anti-spam for Exchange  • GFI MailEssentials  • Computer Performance Home

• Anti-spam for Exchange Server  • Solarwinds Free Exchange Monitor  • Exchange 2010 Transition