Security App Transcends Spam

Enterprises seeking to improve control of outbound and inbound e-mail are getting help in a new offering from anti-spam software developer Proofpoint Inc.

Continuing a push by software developers best known for anti-spam technologies into broader content security offerings, Proofpoint this week will announce the Content Security 3.0 suite, which features new technologies to screen and monitor outbound e-mail for regulatory compliance purposes.

The software automates compliance with the privacy and data security regulations required by such legislation as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

/zimages/3/28571.gifClick hereto read about spam-filtering products from Proofpoint and two other vendors.

The Content Security suite includes two modules. Proofpoint Content Compliance sets corporate policies for message content and attachments and enforcement of those policies by identifying possible violations. And Proofpoint Digital Asset Security can block sensitive information from leaving the corporation via e-mail by classifying content using the same machine-learning engine in Proofpoints anti-spam software.

Content Compliance includes a point-and-click interface for defining logical rules related to file types, message size and message content, said Proofpoint officials in Cupertino, Calif.

Sam Shoen, Web team director of U-Haul International Inc., said his companys executives can configure the engine themselves to prevent sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers, claim numbers and internal memos, from being sent beyond the corporate firewall.

U-Haul is in the insurance business as well as the rental truck business and must deal with HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance issues, Shoen said.

“A lot of the [sensitive] outbound e-mail is unintentional,” said Shoen in Phoenix. “People think theyre doing something good, but theyre sending something that could get us in a pinch with regulations. There are all kinds of regulations we have to deal with that would blow your mind.”

Proofpoint is updating its anti-spam software as well, releasing Version 3.0 of its Messaging Security Gateway appliance and Protection Server software.

Proofpoints technology is available as licensed software and as a hosted service. Base pricing for Proofpoint Protection Server ranges from $2 to $20 per user, based on volume. Pricing for Content Security is $4 to $40 per mailbox per year. Appliance pricing starts at $5,740 per appliance, plus the per-user pricing.

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