Block incoming spam at the Exhange server?

[J741]

At the moment we use Windows 2000 Server and Exchange 2000 server for our very-small business website and e-mail. It handles only 4 e-mail accounts at the moment. Right now, we get approximately 600 to 800 e-mails a day per account. Of those, only about 50 to 100 are valid, the remaining 700 to 750 per day are SPAM. Currently, each client computer uses the free program 'mailwasher' to filter the incoming e-mail by checking it against known spam lists (like SpamCop and ORDB), and against the user's own blacklist prior to opening Outlook Express or Outlook.

What I would like to do is to have Echange server check the incoming mail and refuse to recieve it if the sender is a known spam offender. I do not want something that requires more manual administration than I currently handle. I do not want something that requires me to manually prepare a blacklist. I do want something that can use pre-existing, dynamic blacklists such as the SpamCop and ORDB lists.

I do not need extensive Baesian filters or such, just a simple, effective filter. If I can reduce our incoming spam by 50% to 80%, we will be content.

I would also like something inexpensive or free, as this Exchange server setup has already proven to be far too expensive for our small business.

 

[xmsre]

Time to upgrade to 2003 then.

 

[mattjurado]

If you want a free spam scanner that works well, you're going to the open source world. I don't like programs like mailwasher that tie into the mail client. I really don't like Mcaffee products, but this is the cheapest I know of.

http://hardwarecentral.dealtime.com...or_Microsoft_Exchange_Small_Business_21038084

I recommend this package

http://www.gfisoftware.com/mes/

Matt J.

P.S. Please always take the time to backup any and all data before performing any actions suggested for ANY problem, regardless of how minor a change it might seem. Also test the backup to make sure it is intact.

 

[J741]

any other options?

 

[VikingBrad]

A possible cheaper solution is to have your ISP handle your email if they run a SPAM filter and then collect your mail form them with the Exchange POP3 connector. Some ISPs provide this as a free service. Also means you don't get the traffic as its stopped at the ISP

Cheers
VikingBrad

 

[Marcs41]

Try the one from

http://www.gfi.com

for 30 days free, then make up you mind if it is worth it to you.

Cost is not everything, if you calculat the time wasted now, it turns out to be not that expensive in the long run.

Marc
[sub]If 'something' 'somewhere' gives 'some' error, expect random guesses or no replies at all. Please specify details.
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[Zelandakh]

the gfi software used to run after the 30 days without licensing problems and continue to do disclaimer and anti spam. Therefore free for what you want.

May not do it this version though.

 

[Marcs41]

The disclaimer stays, yes, but not the AntiSpam?
Or am I wrong in that?

 

[Zelandakh]

either it was only v8 or my memory is failing...

 

[Marcs41]

Nope, you are correct!
See the last 2 lines in:

http://www.gfi.com/mes/anti-spam_freeware.htm

 

[rewilliams]

Get a better E-mail system. Exchange Server (especially 2000 and below) and targets for not only SPAM, but relaying as well.

My suggestion: Mailer Daemon (a.k.a. MDaemon) from Alt-N Technologies. I've been using it for 3 years now, and I absolutely LOVE it.

In the time that I spent trying to properly configure Exchange 2000, I could have setup, removed, and re-setup MDaemon at least 10 times. I'm not kidding you, it now only takes me 5-10 minutes to do a complete install of MDaemon. No system reboots are needed, it has it's own optional Anti-Virus software, all e-mail messages are kept in RAW format, so if a disaster occurs, you can still go back and read your past messages (no messing with external programs, like eseutil.exe, to find out you still can't retrieve your data), AND.... for those of you that use the Public Folders and Calendar options in Exchange ....another option (Worldclient) is available.

http://www.alt-n.com

------------------------------------------------------------
Always remember to Back Up Your DATA!

Good luck!!!

Robert Williams
Owner
Business Application Developments

http://myOnlineDriveSpace.com

 

[Marcs41]

Robert, no one 'targets' a specific server, just addresses and domains, so Exchange is no more or no less vulnerable to spam attacks.
Relaying has been a problem before, but not with recent versions.

MDeamon is a nice server, but in no way to compare with advanced Exchange capabilities.

 

[crobin1]

I installed GFI at my church but was not very happy with it. I am in the process of setting up a Linux box as a front-end mail processor. It will be running a free product called MailScanner,

http://www.sng.ecs.soton.ac.uk/mailscanner/,

which can integrate anti-virus solutions as well as SpamAssassin. Once messages have been checked they will then be passed on to the Exchange Server.

 

[J741]

I've set up GFI mail essentials about a week ago, and it's O.K., but now some of our outgoing e-mail gets refused by our own server. I think GFI mail essentials is filtering both incoming and outgoing e-mail, but I can't seem to find how to turn off filtering of outgoing e-mail.

 

[jgudnas]

I have just finished an install of assp.
it can be found at assp.sourceforge.net

so far so good. You install it as your smtp server, then have it pass off to exchange smtp. it automatically white-lists anyone you send mail to, and uses Bayesian filtering for other messages.
can also do attachment filtering.

takes some time to set up, but once it's going, you don't really need to touch it.

 

[HeathRamos]

We use Surfcontrol to block spam but it kind of sucks (only blocks about 60% of spam and is expensive).

I am now looking into using SpamAssassin after quite a few recommendations.

There is a website that tells you step by step on how to set it up on an OpenBSD box.

 

[wingz86]

We where faced with this same problem. Though we have more users about 45. Our solution was to have our MX records sent to

http://www.appriver.com

They maintain a blacklist and very little administration is nessesary. Another solution we use at the Exchange level is a program called Antigen for Exchange by Sybari. This product has worked EXTREMELY well for us. If not for Sybari, our company would have been infected with the NetSky type virus when they first came out. Sybari has 4 embedded Antivirus engines and 1 Worm engine that are updated twice a day. So to answer question, I would suggest you contact Appriver to start with or contact Sybari they too have a SpamFiltering option.

Wingz

 

[SuzanneColson]

We chose Symantec Anti-Spam Mail Server. You can choose to filter by certain words and characters (of course, how many ways can people spell vicodin and viagra? They come of with new variations everyday.) It also allows checking against up to 3 DBSNL lists (blacklists). It also uses heuristic detection which we have setup to high. At the beginning of each line that the heuristic engine detects it puts the words Possible Spam: in the Subject line. Each user create a rule that moves these to a separate folder that they maintain. This has eliminated almost 100% of our spam. The setup was not difficult. And, the cost was suprisingly low. I consider this an 'enterprise level' product and I believe we paid less then $20/user with 50 users.

Suzanne