email

MIMEsweeper was one of the first products capable of protecting organizations against unwanted content, and it is still widely used today. The vendor, Clearswift, acquired MIMEsweeper's developer, Content Technologies, from Baltimore last year, and it is good to see that re-branding and product development have happened so quickly.

Today, MIMEsweeper is not just one product, but a suite of email security applications allowing network administrators to fine-tune their defenses as required. With the MAILsweeper application, administrators can define both the routing of all emails into and out of the network, and the content policies required. Throughout, the performance of the various elements can be monitored and the appropriate action taken.

Another approach to email security is to actively manage the emails being sent and received by your organization by means of rules and policies. This methodology is possibly more suited to those companies that require detailed audit trails, or who have had a problem with the unauthorized release of proprietary information via email, and it is the methodology espoused by Futuresoft's DynaComm i:series of products.

The control of email is the responsibility of DynaComm i:mail, which is fully integrated with the other products in the suite - these include an internet traffic filter and a file content scanner. Built into a dedicated SMTP server, the product can be positioned in a number of locations, depending on the configuration of your network and the needs of your business. It can also be located within the internal network, in which case all email - inbound and outgoing - will be processed. For smaller businesses with low email use - and smaller budgets - it can be located with the email server itself.

One very important area of email security is encryption. Unless you are using leased lines or virtual private networks (VPNs) to transmit information, the moment an email leaves your firewall it is at the mercy of the internet. Emails can be intercepted and read without your even knowing about it, which poses a terrible risk for corporate information. However, encrypting the email does give you a high degree of ­ reassurance.

PC Guardian provides a nifty little program called Encryption Plus Email that allows you to encrypt email body text and any attachments. The email product is very easy to install - full installation of the administration program takes less than a minute. The product is designed for individual use, so the administrator installs it on each workstation, then configures it centrally and rolls out the user files across the network. Encryption Plus Email is only available for Lotus Notes and Microsoft Outlook, but since these two cover a large proportion of companies this shouldn't be a problem.