SpamActive, Clearswifts latest salvo in the anti-spam campaign, worked as expected in filtering unsolicited e-mail at our server and should help Clearswift catch up to anti-spam service provider Brightmail.
Users of Clearswifts EnterpriseSuite and MailSweeper for SMTP can tap SpamActive, released last month, to get up-to-the-minute updates on spam traffic, as determined by Clearswifts ThreatLab Active. ThreatLab Active collects e-mail messages sent to thousands of decoy e-mail addresses around the world. The messages are analyzed for particular terms and headers; spam profiles are then created and made available on a daily basis.
I used MailSweeper for SMTP to test the product. In the brief time I used SpamActive (four days), unsolicited offers for products designed to enhance sexual performance were substantially cut, as were offers from former princes and first ladies to share their wealth. The SpamActive service is included at no added cost to Clearswift customers with active support contracts.
As anti-spam providers become more adept at filtering unsolicited e-mail, I hope theyll make it easier for users to manage individual blocking. A lot of spam that I receive is, after all, mail that I “requested”—often by installing a product and leaving the “Call and e-mail me as much as you want” button clicked on.
It seems the only way this can be handled effectively is to let individuals block senders; it will be interesting to see if a smart researcher finds a way to sort through blocked messages to make sure I really dont want to see that “junk” e-mail.
For more on SpamActive, go to www.clearswift.com.