A Closer Look at AnteSpam Email Filtering

Who can use AnteSpam?
HiWAAY's AnteSpam is for businesses or individuals who own their domain name. Anyone with their own domain name can use AnteSpam. It is not set up to filter email for hiwaay.net addresses. HiWAAY includes free AnteSpam spam and virus filtering for customers with @hiwaay.net email addresses.

How does it work?
The email is passed through a filter before it gets to your email server or email account. The filter identifies spam and puts it into a folder on the AnteSpam server, where it is stored for your review for up to seven days before it's deleted. Virus infected mail are cleaned and also left available for later review.

How do I check email with AnteSpam?
You get your email just like you always have. AnteSpam is compatible with all email software. Since it's a gateway scanner, meaning it filters email before it reaches your mailbox, there is nothing to change in your email software. No new software or hardware is required to use AnteSpam. The filter is totally maintained on AnteSpam servers.

What does it do?
Experts have developed hundreds of rules used to identify spam. The spam filter compares your incoming mail to all those rules and keeps score. If the score is high enough for a particular email, AnteSpam grabs that email and holds it in a separate folder on the AnteSpam server. (See Sidelined Email below.)

Will AnteSpam work with my domain aliases?
AnteSpam includes full support for domain aliases and sub-domains at no extra charge.

Will AnteSpam work with my email server?
Yes it will. AnteSpam is compatible with all email servers.

My email isn't hosted with HiWAAY. Will AnteSpam work for me?
AnteSpam doesn't care where your email is hosted. It will work with any domain hosted anywhere in the world.

What happens to my email if my mail server is down?
It's a scary thought, but if your email server is down for any reason, AnteSpam will retain all your incoming email for up to 5 days. If during that time your server comes back up, AnteSpam will deliver any email it has been holding for you.

What are its limitations?
Even with a product as good as AnteSpam there are a couple of limitations.

• AnteSpam can't filter out 100% of spam or viruses. No spam or virus filter can. AnteSpam gets pretty close though. For the hiwaay.net domain which gets over 150 million emails every month, the amount of spam that leaks through is far less than .1%.
• AnteSpam can't filter outgoing email so it doesn't filter the email you send to other people.

Do I have any controls with spam filtering?
AnteSpam includes some very powerful yet easy to use web-based tools for controlling the way you want AnteSpam to work for you. The tools are completely compatible with all operating systems and the latest versions of popular web browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari.

• The Control Panel - AnteSpam has a web-based control panel through which you can adjust the sensitivity to spam, update your account information and view sidelined emails. Basic AnteSpam gives you a single control panel for your controlling the filters for your domain. Advanced AnteSpam allows every email user in your domain to have his or her own control panel to control the filters for his or her account.
• Sidelined Email - AnteSpam includes a very powerful web-based interface to view and manage your sidelined email, if you want to. From sidelined email you can forward caught email to your mailbox or with a single mouse click add block or pass filters.
• The Block List - AnteSpam includes the option of building a list of email addresses you do not want to receive email from at any time. Mail from these addresses will go directly into the sidelined mail folder. Basic AnteSpam includes a block list for your entire domain. Advanced AnteSpam also includes block lists for each email address.
• The Pass List - AnteSpam includes the option of building a list of email addresses you do want to receive email from all the time. Mail from these addresses will be sent directly to your email account and be available as regular email. If you find a valid email in your sidelined mail, you can opt to have that email submitted for statistical analysis as a valid email to reduce the chances of it being caught again. Basic AnteSpam includes a pass list for your entire domain. Advanced AnteSpam also includes pass lists for each email address.

What about virus filtering?
When virus filtering is enabled, viruses are removed without regard to thresholds or block/pass lists. Since viruses do not have a score (they either are or are not a virus), the virus filtering does not use thresholds. Block and pass lists also do not apply because most viruses are sent to you by people you know. AnteSpam uses a virus database that is updated often, sometimes several times a day, by experts from all over the world. If an email or attachment matches a virus definition, the email and attachment are deleted, and the email is sidelined for your later review.

To find out how HiWAAY's AnteSpam can stop spam and email viruses from clogging your business mailboxes, please contact us:

• Huntsville area sales: (888) 244-9229
• Birmingham area sales: (888) 231-6852
• Email sales@hiwaay.net
• Online contact form

Original Page: http://www.hiwaay.net/filtering/antespam-details.html