Gateway Spam Filter

A gateway spam filter is an on-premises software solution for filtering email that is typically added behind the network firewall as a virtual appliance.

It is a gateway spam filter that stops most spam emails from the communication flow, ensuring clean emails arrive at their destination. Anti spam gateway solutions can seriously boost network security as indicated in tests which showed that anti spam gateway solutions can detect 99.9% of spam and reduce network´s exposure to email-borne threats such as phishing, malware and ransomware.

The strongest spam filter for business use will depend on the needs of your business and the level of protection you require. Despite the trend towards cloud deployment, there are companies for whom on-premises solutions are required. The companies may be subject to federal or state regulations regarding the security, visibility and accessibility of data, or may have issues regarding connectivity and latency because of their location. On-premise solutions can also be more customizable than cloud-based solutions.

In relation to spam filtering solutions, there is little difference between a gateway spam filter and a cloud-based spam filter. Both solutions are just as effective at detecting spam (assuming they have the same features and settings) and require a low level of maintenance. Updates are performed by the service provider, who also provides technical support to guide businesses through any issues they come across.

If your company is thinking about the implementation of a gateway spam filter, it is important to note that not all anti spam gateway solutions are identical. Whereas all anti spam gateway solutions use real-time block lists to block emails sent from known sources of spam, not all use “Greylisting” – a process acknowledged to stop emails from previously unknown sources entering the network.

In addition to this, most anti spam gateway solutions have Recipient Verification and Sender Policy Framework tools to improve email security. Few have SUBRL filtering to detect malicious URLs. This feature in particular can help cut the network exposure to phishing attempts. With fewer phishing emails delivered, there is less chance of a user revealing login credentials or other sensitive information.

Not all companies will know about the benefits of an outbound secure email gateway – or even what it is. An outbound secure email gateway assigns a Spam Confidence Score to each outbound email and inspects it for malware. If the Spam Confidence Score is too high, or it contains malware, the email is quarantined and a report returned to the network administrator.

This process stops a company’ IP address being blacklisted by global block list agencies for high levels of spam – something that could occur inadvertently, or if a corporate email account has been infiltrated by a cybercriminal and is being used to send spam from a “trusted source”. The process also flags malware on the network that has not yet been labelled identified by anti virus software.