Features

Yet again Cisco has churned out an over priced book for one of its courses and filled it out with acronyms and confusing explanations. Nice diagrams though.

This product provides a content-filtering SMTP gateway on the Windows 2000/2003 Server operating system. It can share a server with other applications, but a dedicated server is recommended. It is available as a plug-in for Microsoft Exchange 5.5 and 2000, which can then police internal emails. It has open relay protection.

The OrangeBox Mail software is designed to provide a complete email filtering system implemented as an SMTP relay at the gateway to the Internet. It runs on Windows 2000 or XP Professional and requires Microsoft Office to be installed for the analysis of Office documents. Remote management is also supported.

MailMarshal is installed as an email gateway and may be used in conjunction with any SMTP-compatible email server. However, MailMarshal SMTP also supports POP3 mail protocols, and can act as a POP3 mail server for up to 300 users. It can also collect emails via POP3 for situations where there is a dial-up connection to the Internet.

Clearswift MAILsweeper analyzes incoming and outgoing email at the internet gateway so organizations can implement management and security policies to block spam, viruses, inappropriate content, and comply with legal requirements.

PineApp's Mail-SeCure is an appliance with models ranging from home user to enterprise network. We tested the 2040, a mid-range model aimed at SMEs that comes in a slim, rack-mountable case, includes a firewall and has three Ethernet ports (internal, external, and DMZ). Their unit is configured via a web interface.

MailScan can be installed on an existing mail server and is available in over twenty variants to support many third-party Windows-based mail servers. We tested the generic version aimed primarily at non-Windows mail server platforms, MailScan for SMTP Servers.

Kerio offers a mail server with anti-virus, anti-spam, and content filtering. As a mail server, it is a cost-effective alternative to other products and offers extra features. For example, it can be used with a dial-up internet connection because it supports POP3 as well as SMTP for mail collection from an ISP. It has Extended Turn (ETRN) support for dial-up to extend SMTP if required. Client machines can be supported via POP3, IMAP, or a webmail interface.

CipherTrust IronMail is a hardware appliance that offers anti-spam and email security. It provides secure delivery, basic certificate management, comprehensive policy management, and alerts you to suspicious behavior.

Gordano Messaging Suite is a complete mail server, with integrated anti-virus, anti-spam, and content filtering. As a mail server, it offers a cost-effective alternative to Microsoft Exchange and integrates tightly with Outlook in the same way that Exchange does. There are many additional features, such as support for dial-up collection of email from your ISP by POP3. It also has Extended Turn (ETRN) support for dial-up to extend SMTP should you need to use it. Client machines can be supported via POP3, IMAP, or a webmail interface.

This product offers content-management for email and the web. It has anti-spam filtering, confidentiality controls, http and ftp scanning, URL blocking for web security, and it includes eTrust Antivirus.

DynaComm i:mail acts as an SMTP gateway, running on a Windows NT/2000/XP/Server 2003 machine, which does not have to be dedicated to the task – it can also host the existing mail server, for example. It is a member of a family of products that together form DynaComm's i:series Enterprise Content Security Suite, which offers other optional components including general Internet access filtering (HTTP and FTP) and controls, and a component called i:scan that monitors file access and downloads across the enterprise in a very wide-ranging way (not just across the Internet) to control confidentiality and misuse of data.

Avecho.com is an outsourced email service, which also provides protection from spam and all forms of dangerous content, including viruses, scripts, embedded HTML, attachments, etc. It also has email repository. It is suitable for everyone from the home user to the largest corporate customer. And, even though it is based in the UK, it doesn't matter where you are in the World as it works over the Internet. It can also handle your outbound traffic to prevent anyone in your organisation sending out spam or viruses.

While flash drives are all the rage, they can be pretty insecure; to lose it is quite easy as they are so small. Should sensitive material be placed on one such drive, a thief would find getting information off such a device to be a walk in the park.