September 8th, 2010
It may seem to some that using hosted email services for their business can be expensive, difficult to manage and time consuming to set up. Others may even say that their email system should be managed in house, instead of outsourcing it to a third party. However spam rates show no signs of slowing down and it is becoming increasingly difficult for a business to effectively manage this risk. Plus many organisations are now incorporating email archiving into their business continuity planning. Let’s not forget they also have a business to run.
Using a hosted email management system that provides both anti spam protection and email archiving can actually provide the ideal solution for businesses. By securely managing this offsite it can effectively remove any email risk as well as hassle of having to deal with themselves.
Getting started with us at Message Stream has never been easier. We offer the completed hosted email solution that protects your business through anti spam protection and our email management service. This can all be set up without any changes to your network. All we need from you is a list of your domains and email addresses and you just make a small change to your domain MX records. Then you’re set up – quickly, easily and safely. We can even offer you a free 14 day trial to see for yourself how easy it is to plug into MessageStream and start benefiting from our services – as well as get that peace of mind.
Tags: Anti-Spam, email archiving, spam, Spam Filter
September 5th, 2010
While we may be able to weed out the countless junk mail we get in our personal email accounts, businesses are more at risk if their employees receive spam. While they may have been forwarded what appeared to be innocent email from a friend or another business, it could just as likely be an email virus. Viruses, especially harmful ones, have the potential to wreak no end of havoc across your organization through the loss of data or damage to your computer servers.
So how do you control staff from opening these harmful spam emails? Using an effective spam filter that identifies and filters out detected spam from your network is an excellent start. However it is also important to monitor staff usage, to ensure productivity is not affected, as well as help identify those who regularly receive non-business related emails which can increase the risk of viruses.
Why not get the complete anti spam solution from us here at MessageStream. Not only do we offer leading spam filter protection that prevents junk mail from trying to enter your network, we also give you statistical email reporting. These detailed management reports let you easily review email usage for all staff so you can monitor activity as well as identify who could be putting your business at risk through potentially harmful emails. All this is available at your finger tips with reports delivered based on your preferred frequency – daily, weekly or monthly. So take control today and protect your business from any virus threats.
Tags: junk email, Spam Blocker, Spam Filter, Spam Services
August 8th, 2010
Some of us may think we can easily recognise any junk mail we receive in our inbox – and simply just delete it. But the spammers of today are much more clever. Many can disguise junk mail by making it look legitimate, when it is a phishing scam trying to steal your personal data.
So how do these spammers get your email address? Well there are several ways they can go about it. By simply guessing your email address, or if you register online to a bogus site – even unsubscribing to certain emails means spammers can get hold of your address.
For a business, this can create a lot of hassle as it is time consuming and a drain on staff resources having to filter through every individual email received. Plus it can also expose a business to potential risks through the threat of viruses or email scams.
At Message Stream, we make it our mission to stop those unwanted emails from reaching your inbox. Through our leading anti spam protection we simply identify and filter any junk mail before it enters your network. In fact our spam filter is so accurate; we can identify 99% of junk mail making it one of the most accurate catch rates available. But rather than take our word for it – we have also been recognised by the test industry leader Virus Bulletin who recently awarded us two VB Spam awards. So stop letting Spam become a headache for your business, and let Message Stream stop it for you.
Tags: Anti-Spam, junk email, spam blocker technology, Spam Email, Spam Filter
July 30th, 2010
How many times have you received an email from your bank asking you to click on a link to verify your details? However, was it really your bank, or an imposter? Unfortunately, the latter option would almost certainly be the answer.
This type of practice is known as phishing. Phishing involves fraudsters sending out spam emails which appear to come from a legitimate source, usually well known brands, which attempt to steal your personal information such as PIN or credit card details. By requesting you click on a link, you are taken to what appears to be a genuine website. You are then asked to provide your personal information, which is then captured by these fraudsters. Victims of phishing can suffer financial loss or even have their whole identities stolen.
Businesses need to ensure they protect themselves against this bogus practice. But how do you determine what is real and what is phishing? Luckily, the next generation of anti spam technology is sophisticated enough to easily identify and remove these fraudulent emails from your account before you even see it.
At Message Stream, we let you plug into our award-winning anti spam technology which is so thorough; it virtually eliminates the threat of phishing. In fact, we can detect 99% of all spam that attempts to enter your network by scanning every email with our leading spam filter service. Any identified spam is simply removed – all without you having to deal with the hassle or worry about these types of threats to your business.
Tags: anti-spam technology, spam, Spam Filter, Spam Services
July 14th, 2010
Have you ever received an undeliverable email report – but have no recollection of sending the email in the first place? This type of activity is the result of spammers and is known as back-scatter which, unfortunately, is pretty common place today. As spammers generally send wide spread junk mail to thousands or even millions of email addresses, they are not particularly concerned with who receives their messages. However, any undeliverable messages are usually sent to a live email address – and the risk is, they choose yours to receive these messages.
While receiving the odd junk email may not be that disruptive, back-scatter can result in you being bombarded with a barrage of undeliverable emails, which can even see your address ending up on a spam blacklist. As frustrating as this can be, there is no central spam body you can report this to. You could possibly take legal action to track down these offenders who are forging your email address, but there is no telling the time and cost involved in doing so – especially for a business.
Fortunately, there is a way of filtering back-scatter before any of these undeliverable messages even reach your network.
Offering one of the most sophisticated back-scatter email filtering systems around, we at Message Stream can stop this form of spam becoming a problem for you. Our anti spam system can cleverly filter these undeliverable messages and successfully remove them before they begin to flood your network. So let us get to back-scatter before it gets to you.
Tags: email filtering, junk email, spam, Spam Filter
July 11th, 2010
With several billion spam messages sent every day, the threat of email viruses is still very much a concern for businesses. In fact, if a business were to receive an email virus, the problems it could cause can be very serious. Data could be lost, operations brought to a halt and whole servers can be damaged to name just a few of these problems.
Businesses need to ensure they guard themselves against spam and email viruses. However, email is seen as one of the most convenient and cheapest forms of communication, and is heavily relied upon as a major part of its everyday operations.
As spam shows no signs of slowing down and still continues to be a problem, the next generation of anti spam technology has developed sophisticated methods to block these viruses through email filtering. Email filtering involves organising ingoing and outgoing emails according to specific criteria through special processing techniques. The aim is to detect, identify and then remove spam before it enters a network.
We at Message Stream offer anti spam protection that is so thorough, we run over 90 deep and intelligence tests on every email. Our sophisticated detection process checks the validity of the email address, scans the content including attachments and protects you against potential virus threats. Our meticulous spam detection removes 99% of junk mail before it reaches your network – making it one of the most accurate email filtering services available. Protect your business today from any email risk caused by viruses.
Tags: anti-spam technology, junk emails, preventing Spam, spam advice, Spam Filter
July 5th, 2010
As far back as 1997, Domain Name System (DNS) blacklists have been in operation, with the sole purpose to blacklist spam by publishing the offending IP addresses.
Also known as spam blacklists, they contain a list or a database of IP addresses that are suspected to be spammers. Typically those email addresses that regularly send high volumes of unsolicited mail are considered to be spammers. If the maintainers of these lists receive spam from one of these email addresses, they will add them to their blacklist. When an email is received by an organisation, the IP address is checked against these blacklists and if it has been sent from a spam address, it gets blocked.
DNS blacklists can help you filter your emails and determine which ones are considered junk mail. You can check the IP address on any number of DNS blacklist sites and even report suspected spam to help protect others. However as anti spam services have become more innovative over the years, the process of determining and blacklisting spam is now much simpler.
At Message Stream, our advanced anti spam technology makes filtering and preventing junk email so much easier. We use a boundary layer check to determine validity of the email address, and if it is deemed junk mail we blacklist it. There is no user intervention required on your part and you have up to 14 days to inspect the detected spam yourself. This makes it a much simpler, faster and secure process.
Tags: archiving email, spam advice, Spam Filter, Spam Services
July 2nd, 2010
In recent years, various changes to the law have meant there is an increased need for businesses to seek out effective email archiving systems. Whilst there is currently no overarching law governing how organisations should store emails, for some industries there are specific legal requirements.
Financial Services Providers must comply with FSA regulation that requires emails to be stored for a minimum of six years. European Union member states are required under the Directive 2006/24/EC to store email data for anything up to 24 months.
The Data Protection Act 1998 gives people the right to request and access any personal data held about them by an organisation. This can include data such as letters and email correspondence. Businesses that do not have an efficient system for retrieving emails can be
exposed to risky legal liabilities. Consider just one untraceable email and the potential damage it can cause for an organisation.
With such a backdrop of conflicting requirements, now more than ever organisations should protect themselves against any email risk, by establishing an efficient system to manage their email data.
At Message Stream, we offer the complete email archiving solution by securely and efficiently storing all your organisation’s emails off site. With a superior spam filter, it can easily detect what and what not to archive – all done automatically and in real time. Plus, it also gives you instant access to all your company’s archived emails – not only giving you peace of mind, but making your life easier through simple storage management.
Tags: email archiving, Spam Emails, Spam Filter, Spam Services
June 20th, 2010
Many of the emails that you receive – advertising miracle products or services that you can’t manage without – are spam. The individual, or organisation, that sent the junk email will not have permission to send it. These types of email are not damaging to individuals, but are annoying, and many will not even be looked at. For a business though, the cost of employees scanning through junk emails searching for legitimate emails will be high. Although these emails are not usually responded to (or even looked at), the senders regard this spam as an opportunity to make profit from the small minority that will purchase the product advertised.
Scammers are often trying to con email recipients, either by selling you a product, which is either unfit for its purpose or which is never delivered. There will be no address or contact details for you to request your money back. You may even purchase a product that never arrives, only to find that the scammer has used your credit card details, or other confidential information.
Many individuals who start online businesses can easily fall prey to scams, losing money along the way as well as risking complaints from email recipients. The recommended course of action, is not to open emails that you have not requested or do not recognise. For a business, this isn’t always the best approach, as they will receive many emails throughout the course of a day. For companies, a hosted spam service like MessageStream is the most cost effective, and secure, course of action.
Tags: Anti-Spam, junk email, Spam Email, Spam Filter, Spam Service
June 14th, 2010
Spam costs companies huge amounts of money each year in wasted resources and anti spam products. Spam has a high cost for many online businesses, and there are many ways that spam effects companies. The only person who doesn’t pay for the cost of spam is the sender of the junk email.
There are many companies offering anti spam solutions, such as email filters and spam blockers. These all cost money, but are very necessary if you want to protect your business. It is essential to outsource your spam services to a reliable company, who will maintain an effective service for your company, such as here at MessageStream.
Employees who have to check emails for spam will lose productivity, as they have to spend valuable time checking emails for authenticity. The cost for each employee can be totalled up to huge sums of money in lost productivity.
As emails are being checked, it is possible to miss important, genuine emails which need to be dealt with, which will also have a high cost through lost income and opportunity.
Each spam email is a threat to your company, and can be responsible for introducing viruses and spy ware to your system – which could cost you your business. Data may be corrupted, valuable information lost, as well as the loss of email service – which will lose you custom. For any company that relies on their email services for their business, an anti spam service is essential.
Tags: Anti-Spam, spam advice, Spam Blocker, Spam Filter, Spam Services
