Considering the wealth of IT folks we have here, I was wondering what you guys use at work to control spam and if you like it. I'm in the market for a centralized solution not a desktop application. Mimimal care & feeding are a priority. The last thing we want to do is set up a dedicated server and have yet another OS to keep patched. So that pretty well leaves software on the mail servers (Exchange 2003) or appliances. Basically, I'd just like opinions from people that actually use and administer this stuff on a daily basis. Thanks.

 

we just switched over to SOPHOS.

so far so good i guess...

i'll tell wipe0ut to chime in.. he actually handles that for us here at werk.

 

I've heard good things about Gateway Defender.

 

mailsweeper on mail gateway
trend emanager on exchange server

 

Spam Assassin is good. There is a product out there for Windoze machines that sniffs the mail using the SA algorithms and filters. Good chit on the local/client level. I think the Windoze version is SAProxy.

 

I know you said no apps, but for a quick and dirty solution...I use Mozilla Thunderbird's built in Bayesian filtering.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I'd consider Trend's or Sophos's offerings but our anti-virus vendor is McAfee and I've been told not go down the path of anti-spam products from "rival" anti-virus vendors. The loevely part is McAfee's anti-spam products have been almost universally panned. I'm willing to dump McAfee when our support comes up for renewal but the powers-that-be aren't.

Anyway, the appliances from Barracuda Networks seem to be right on target of what I'm looking for. They won an Editor's Choice award from Network Computing magazine and have a half-way impressive customer list. Anyone heard any buzz on them, good or bad?

 

I have not implemented it personally, but the ISP for our schools has Postini. Very cool system. Stops a great deal of spam, and traps all the virii so far. It uses a web-based interface to handle users looking at their spam/virus messages. You can set up rules, and exceptions in addition to the already good filters.

Postini works by routing all your mail through Postini first, and then onto your mail server if Postini thinks it's okay.

Personally, I like to manage spam at the workstation level, so I've shut off my Postini spam filtering for my account. I'd probably be okay with the viruses as well, since I'm always careful....plus, I have a Mac, so the dangerous viruses these days are few and far between.

 

SAProxy Pro

Works really well.

 

As mentioned - SA. Specifically running on a recent build of Matt Simerson's mail toaster. http://matt.simerson.net

...just set it and forget it.

-r

 

If you run your own server use ASSP ( http://assp.sourceforge.net ) it is bayesian filtering plus white/black/gray/red-listing with a bunch of sweet features.

 

So has anyone used Barracuda as your spam filter at your work if you administer it? We are near renewal time and Trend Micro still has no IMSS compatible for Windows 2008. Sucks!

Looking for something new and compatible with Windows 2008. Any ideas?

 

We've been using a Barracuda SF-400 since a month or two after I made that initial post. The only issues/shortcomings I've had with it stem from my users and what they're willing to accept. The actual functionality and administration of the device has been fine. The Barracuda boxes still probably rank right near the top of what's available when it comes to dollar-for-dollar value. If you have the budget though, you may also want to look at the Iron Port appliance offerings (recently acquired by Cisco).

The major item to be concerned with on the Barracudas is whether you just do global blocks/tags/allows or whether your users are expected to maintain their own spam scoring and white/blacklists. There are two main considerations in this regard. First, you cannot set global rules and then allow a hand-picked subset of users to manage their own spam. Either everyone manages their own, or you (the admin) do it for everyone. Second, if you do have users manage their own spam, they pretty much must log into the Barracuda's web interface to deal with quarantined messages. This may cause some people to pitch a bitch if they've been used to having a spam quarantine area integrated into their mail client.

 

Thanks Billiam for your opinion.

Currently we use IMSS from Trend, it works great but again no version compatibility with Server 2008, it's on a 2000 server box. And the time is near for renewal, so I have to be looking for a product upgrade now. We pretty much use a global block for all users, it would be a pain to have each users do their own thing as it can lead to more calls for help!

So you think the Barracuda has blocked most legit spams at your work? What about the false positives? Pretty low?

 

Wholly old thread...

Spamsoap is a good service...
Vipre from Sunbelt is also good...

 

I use MessageLabs for some of my clients. It is surprisingly effective considering the flip-flop of ownership in recent years. MS and Symantec have managed to not screw it up.

I like a service in that it totally offloads the handling of spam from my network.

 

We use Postini on top of the Barracuda.

 

GFI MailEssentials which incorporates 6 or 7 different spam detection methods.

 

I'd like to stick to a gateway spam protection where it does not "enters" our network... But not hosted, because I want more control! Trend serves this purpose but again need to renew.

 

In my opinion, the false positives have been acceptable. There was about a 3-4 month period where they got excessive. This was being caused by the Barracuda "following" links in the bodies of messages and taking those destinations into account when scoring a message. They subsequently provided a feature in a later firmware release to disable this sort of link following.

Here's what our counters and spam scoring settings look like. We started with the tag score at a higher value and basically backed it down slowly until the bitching and moaning level became acceptable for us to deal with. Our counters are from January 5th BTW.