Spam is a reality of the Internet, but not all users suffer from it at the same extent. It is definitely hard for businesses to distinguish valuable messages from unsolicited emails. For business and personal assistance alike, software companies have created special anti-spam programs meant to block the access of unsolicited mail to inbox in more than 90% of cases. Released by Microsoft in May 2004, the Exchange spam blocker is a smart tool designed for mailbox protection. The target market for this product consists of individual users and companies that receive unsolicited commercial emails in very large numbers.
Microsoft Smart Screen technology stays at the basis of the Exchange spam blocker as it is essential for the identification of the nature of the message. The access of the unsolicited mail messages can thus be stopped at the mailbox or at the gateway depending on the settings. Other Microsoft tools were used before the launch of Exchange spam blocker. At present, Microsoft no longer provides updates for the former intelligent filters, in a clustered environment. The present version of the Exchange spam blocker is capable of stopping spam in the tracks, allowing for good business development.
The Exchange spam blocker relies on a combination of techniques meant to identify the messages that could be spam; thus, other than the use of the Bayes filter, the tool scans the messages for spam keywords and analyzes the spam headers. After the identification of the spam messages, it is up to the computer user to decide whether to keep or delete the messages. There are models of the Exchange spam blocker that actually inform a sender whether his or her message has been treated as spam despite its inherent legitimacy. Plus, the advantages of preventing spam directly on server before reaching the computer are manifold: less virus attacks and no malware unauthorized installation.
