12/21/2010

Guide in Choosing the Best Anti Spam Software

Spammers get even smarter nowadays. They have discovered more ways to clog our mailboxes. Although our mailboxes has built in spam services, anti spam software are also being considered because of the enhanced features that they offer. But do you really need to download and purchase one?

Below are some signs that would indicate your need for an anti spam software:

-Your mailbox is bombarded with unsolicited email and it cannot be controlled by the built in filtering features of your email account.

-Legitimate and important mails are missing because of the filtering services that you are currently using.

-You go to chatrooms (specifically public chats) or you are a newsgroup member. This is dangerous because your email address will be posted to a lot of people and can easily be gathered by spammers.

-You cannot differentiate a scam from legitimate email.

-Your computer has viruses due to downloaded file attachments.

Once you have decided that there is a need for you to buy an anti spam software, try to do your homework of getting information about the available programs that you can download. Here are some tips to help you decide which anti spam software is best for you:

-Choose a freeware. This means that the software will still have a free trial period (which usually last for 30 days) so that you have the time to decide whether or not you will continue to purchase it after you have tested it for about a month.

-Offers more enhanced features. A good anti spam software should not only offer filtering services but also some added protection such as virus scanning for attachments.

-Be practical. Don't spend too much just for an anti software program. Choose affordable software which offers great features and benefits.

-Compatibility. Verify the requirements of the software. Ensure that the anti spam software will work with your email client. If you have multiple email accounts, then it should work with all your accounts.

-Select a trusted manufacturer. Verify the reputation and credibility of the manufacturer. A great manufacturer will most certainly create great software.

-User-friendly. An anti spam software with complex settings is hard to configure and may take too much of your time just by learning the software. It is better that you can easily setup it up so you can quickly achieve the desired output.

-Available customer support. There are cases that you have exhausted all your effort and still you cannot solve the problem you have encountered with the software. Then, you will need a customer support via email, chat or phone.

Remember that no good anti spam software will promise a spam free mailbox. What it will do is help you minimize or reduce the chances of getting spam mails.

It is important that you know what you need and what to look for. A lot of anti spam softwares are offered in the market so start making a comparison on the available softwares. Then, you can make a smart decision when choosing an anti spam software.

The Purpose of Anti Spam Software and Its Importance in the World of Technology

In the world of electronic mail, spam is the biggest and most important problem. Although it used to be not a danger at all, now it is becoming one. Now, in every ten e-mails in the world, seven are actually spam, which congest inboxes with rubbish content. E-mail has been abused by many people in the web through both worm programs and spam. Businesses and institutions that rely on computers and internet know how spam affects their performance. These useless mails are not just annoying but are also threatening. Some of them carry malicious content, too. This concern has prompted the increase in the demand for anti-spam software in the recent years. This software has been developed by computer technology support companies to protect electronic mails from acquiring these random mails that come from nowhere.

There are a lot of companies that offer anti-spam software and they come with different methods and system. While businesses and industries need this protective software, choosing the right one for them is another matter. Taking into consideration the concept that encompasses the software is one way to aid you in choosing the anti-spam software that is right for you and your needs. This software we are talking about is basically a spam filter. This filter prevents entry of spam by identifying particular entries like IP addresses and keywords. These entries are either permitted to get through or blocked.

In a number of computer support companies, installation of spam software is part of their e-mail management scheme. The fact that the internet world has not yet eliminated that bulk of spam that pesters internet users means that an effective method to filter off these annoying mails has not yet arisen. While this statement has some hint of truth, technical support companies are exploring options on how to deal with the problem. Nonetheless, there is available software offered by most companies that help in sorting out e-mails. So, while lots of people are baffled at what to do to manage their emails, you can just sit back and go about your tasks. The spam software does the taking care of the spam messages.

There are lots of business addresses recognized as persistent spammers and they induce disgust and delay during transactions. Imagine having to sort important messages from a bunch of spam. That is just annoying. But more profound problems are present. Even the housewife checking her inbox may be confounded by a number of mails that come from nowhere. In businesses and companies, the presence of spam can be such a burden.

Spam filters may work in different ways. A particular filter may work by tracking IP addresses and noting the ones that generate spam. These addresses are then pinned down and blocked. A different method employs sorting out of keywords. A software that does this scheme of filtering will track down particular keywords and phrases which have been previously banned. Messages containing these items are then blocked. Other anti-spam schemes involve filtering based on permission. In this case, an electronic mail from an unauthorized address will be blocked from sending you mails. Some filters base their action through scanning the concept of a message or mail. When the concept is different from what the spam filter requires, this mail gets blocked.

The battle against spam involves the use of spam software by both administrators of electronic mail systems and users. However, there is no software that perfectly identifies a spam from valid mails. While not all spam is filtered, some legitimate messages are blocked also. Nevertheless, one may opt to install filters and blocks on his or her electronic mail account to isolate spam. This way, discarding these messages can be easier.

How Anti-Spam Software Works

It was not too long ago that email mailboxes were so full of junk mail and spam that they threatened to render electronic communication useless. When you opened up your email you were bombarded with poorly written advertisements for $ex, V!agra, and tons of other intentionally misspelled products, designed to evade any spam blocking devices. Those interested in consumer protection knew the ultimate goal, to eliminate and block spam, but as soon as they created a product designed to do just that, the spammers evaded their efforts by getting more creative. That is, until modern anti spam software was developed. Antispam software comes in a variety of forms, with the obvious ultimate intent of stopping unwanted emails from reaching you.

Blacklist
One of the primary anti spam methods is known as blacklisting. This software identifies the IP address of the spam sender, and then communicates with the Internet Service Provider of the sender and instructs the ISP to block mail from that IP address to your email account. In theory this is a fool proof solution. The reality, however, is that there is a lot of money to be made in spamming, so forcing a spammer to switch his IP address frequently is not too high a price to pay to evade blocking. That said, this practice does, over time, start to close down doors to spammers and all but eliminates amateur spammers who do not have the capability to frequently switch IPs.

Spam Votes
Many individuals who frequently use their email accounts will be familiar with this device. Spam voting software works through the participation of users. When you receive email you have the option of classifying it as spam, usually by pushing a button which says, unsurprisingly, 'spam'. Once enough people classify a piece of mail or an IP as spam it falls in trust until ultimately it becomes completely blocked from addresses.

Profiling
Profiling involves learning the common characteristics of spammers and spam mail. It is software that looks for things like bugs, invalid message ID's and other traits and uses these characteristics to evaluate incoming pieces of mail. Each piece of mail is then given a score depending upon how it fares against these criteria. The user is then given the option of how high or how low to set the bar with regard to which emails are let in. This method has been shown to be immensely effective against amateur spammers and many professional spammers. However, it relies upon a ready team of professionals to identify new traits used by spammers and to incorporate those traits into the profiling algorithms.

Bayesian Filtering
The most promising spam blocking software follows no rules. Rather, it constantly learns new techniques to fight spam by scanning the mail you've read and comparing it to the mail that you have rejected. This highly sophisticated software uses the data that it gleans from thousands of users to identify which items are spam and which are not. It then has the capability to adjust its standards to your particular preferences. Over time, it becomes adept at sending you only the emails that you want, and blocking the emails that you do not.

How Would You Like an Easy Way to Get Rid of Spam?

Spam: it seems that it is everywhere you go online these days, threatening to jump out of every cyber nook and cranny to spew its putrid marketing jive at each unsuspecting person who crosses its path. Ok maybe it's not that bad (cue howls of protest from the spam trodden) but it is clearly a major annoyance that at the very least disrupts your leisurely Internet surfing and at its' worse can actually wreak havoc on the operations of big businesses and industries and as a result cause the loss of millions of dollars annually. A dire enough scenario but one that is entirely possible and indeed does happen on a daily basis in this Internet driven world that we live in today.

It is no surprise therefore that the foremost challenge on most everyone's minds in the online community is how to find an easy way to get rid of spam. It is this same challenge that has given rise to an unprecedented variety of software solutions against this new age problem. One of these is Easy Anti Spam and its archiving features are one of its most effective components.

Easy Anti Spam provides a highly efficient way for hosting providers, internet service providers, and others with dedicated servers to combat this growing menace. Reasonably priced packages that provide utmost powerful anti-spam and antivirus protection can be had for the taking in their line of software packages.

Let's face it; there really is no easy way to get rid of spam. Even with the use of advanced and up to date software protection packages, the threat is still an ever present one and you must be vigilant in order not to fall prey to their malicious attacks. One of the other highly effective ways to guard against infection is by good computing practices. Try to avoid sites which are known carriers of these malevolent bits of software. Generally speaking, these are the dodgy sites that advertise, gambling, physical and performance enhancing products and adult entertainment. 

You know the ones I'm talking about right? Don't make me have to spell it out for you! Of course there is no safe way to determine exactly which sites to avoid as in many cases you will not even realize that you have been infected until several days or even several months later. Of course by that point it will be virtually impossible to trace where the rouge bit of code originated from and furthermore you will have a bigger problem on your hands; namely the infection that you are currently experiencing!

Also try to avoid leaving your email address or addresses if you have more than one, in the various online surveys and posts in discussion boards that you come across in your online travels if at all possible. This is one of the first places that email harvesting software targets in the hopes of gathering a sizeable list of future spamees. With all these factors combined you should be on your way to a spam free Internet experience.