| NDR spam: When non-delivery reports become a nuisance |
London, UK, 11 June, 2008 - GFI Software, a leading developer of network security, content security and messaging software, has today launched a white paper to explain what NDR spam is all about and why spammers have resorted to this effective method to distribute unsolicited mail.
Research shows that up to 90% of emails received by companies are spam, and spammers have adopted a variety of methods to bypass spam filters used in anti-spam software. In the beginning, spam was mainly text based but over the past few years, spammers have resorted to using embedded images and attaching common file types such as mp3s and Excel documents in emails to gain access to mailboxes. Another option is NDR or non-delivery report spam.
NDRs are a common part of email exchanges. Users receive NDRs, for example, when an email does not arrive at a recipient's address and notification is sent to the sender. However, spammers can cause a considerable increase in NDR activity because they send junk mail to thousands of email addresses. Some are genuine but others are not and these are used to generate NDR messages by manipulating the 'From' address to use a real domain sender. This results in email users receiving NDRs from people they had never sent an email to in the first place.
Unless action is taken, email servers could be inundated with useless emails thereby hogging system resources and affecting performance. The best way to stop NDR spam is to deploy anti-spam software that can identify spam in NDRs and delete them from the server.
A variety of technologies are used and anti-spam software like GFI MailEssentials, the number 1 anti-spam filter on the market, uses Bayesian Filter, DNS Blacklists, Spam URI RealTime Blocklists and Keyword Checking to keep NDR spam at bay. GFI MailEssentials also uses a Directory Harvesting feature on the email gateway to drop email messages and NDRs sent to non-existent users.
About GFI MailEssentials
With over 60 awards to its name, 80,000 satisfied customers and the lowest prices on the market, GFI MailEssentials is an anti spam filter that captures over 98% of spam and, since it is server-based, it eliminates the need to install and update anti spam software on each desktop. GFI MailEssentials uses a variety of technologies to beat the latest spam threats such as Bayesian filtering, white-listing technology and DNS blacklists. GFI not only excels at eliminating spam but this is done at market-leading low rate of false positives - ensuring that good and important emails are not deleted. GFI MailEssentials can detect and block phishing emails as well as add email management tools to your mail server: disclaimers, mail monitoring, Internet mail reporting, list server, server-based auto replies and POP3 downloading.
About GFI
GFI is a leading software developer that provides a single source for network administrators to address their network security, content security and messaging needs. With award-winning technology, an aggressive pricing strategy and a strong focus on small-to-medium sized businesses, GFI is able to satisfy the need for business continuity and productivity encountered by organizations on a global scale. Founded in 1992, GFI has offices in Malta, London, Raleigh, Hong Kong, Adelaide, Hamburg and Cyprus which support more than 200,000 installations worldwide. GFI is a channel-focused company with over 10,000 partners throughout the world. GFI is also a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.
About AfricaSD
AfricaSD is the Sub-Saharan GFI distributor, and always offers customers and reseller partners the very best security awareness, forums, consulting, and security training certifications. AfricaSD focuses on forming long-lasting partnerships with its clients, from initial assessment, to implementation and ongoing support. AfricaSD works side-by-side with its clients throughout the entire technology life cycle and is proud of its large customer base, which includes several sub-Saharan SME's, enterprises and government departments. True 24 x 7 x 365 support is available on all AfricaSD total e-security solutions. The firm's technical staff are fully certified and trained on the entire product range and offer a combination of one-to-one help and a wealth of technological resources. For further information, visit the company's website www.africasd.com or contact them on +27 (0) 12 665-2513, or at asd@africasd.com.
|
|
