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Brightmail: Unrivalled Protection of Email Integrity

New Service Offers Real-Time Insight into Sources of Mail

(06.02.04) - Brightmail unveiled the Brightmail Reputation Service, an automated and data-driven service that continuously monitors email sources globally to ensure that email remains a trusted communications tool. Leveraging data from its more than 300 million end-users and its patented Probe Network - a collection of millions of decoy email accounts used to attract spam - the Brightmail Reputation Service tracks email sources dynamically and provides an extra layer of spam protection by identifying sources of spam and ensuring that legitimate email from trusted mail sources is delivered.

As spam becomes more prevalent, businesses are looking to manage their email networks both more securely and efficiently - this often means blocking spam based on its source. However, with billions of IP addresses in use worldwide and the sources of spam and legitimate email constantly changing, the risks of "over blocking" - accidentally blocking IP ranges that send legitimate email as well as spam - are very real. To ensure that spam is blocked while legitimate email is not, the Brightmail Reputation Service monitors and evaluates email sources to determine to what degree they are being used to send spam.

"Email is a mission critical communications tool whose viability is being threatened because users are starting to lose trust," said Enrique Salem, president and CEO of Brightmail. "Email authentication without a reputation check is like letting a person into your house when all you know is his name.  Only the combination of proven anti-spam filtering methods with a trusted reputation system can help reduce spam, minimize false positives, and restore confidence in email. The Brightmail Reputation Service is poised to solve this problem."

The Brightmail Reputation Service tracks in real-time the email and spam flow from hundreds of thousands of email sources. By measuring the amount of legitimate mail and spam that originates from an email source, the Brightmail Reputation Service creates complex profiles for each email source, including the history and quality of the mail sent. Users can then make additional filtering decisions - to block or allow email - based on the profiles of specific email sources.  Those sources that have generated certain levels of email traffic over time, but have never generated spam messages will be placed on a "safe list" that is made available to users of the Brightmail Reputation Service at no charge. The complete Brightmail Reputation Service is free for all Brightmail customers.

For each source of email, the Reputation Service creates profiles by monitoring multiple data points that include:

·         Volume of email generated

·         Volume of spam generated

·         Source vulnerabilities - open proxies, open relays, etc.

These profiles are updated hourly to reflect any changes, such as new spam sources, any anomalous behaviour, or open proxies that have been closed. This is critical information that can help email administrators set their own mail policies.

The Brightmail Reputation Service has several unique differentiators:

Fast, accurate updates: The information is updated every hour, allowing Brightmail to add/remove email sources quickly as needed.

Widest visibility: Brightmail software filters over 15% of the world's Internet email and protects over 300 million end-users inboxes.

Real-time: Information is collected and analyzed in real-time at Brightmail Logistics and Operation Centers (BLOC) - the world's largest 24x7 Anti-Spam Operations Centre.

Multiple data criteria: Measurements such as volume of mail, volume of spam, attack duration, and tracking history provide more detailed data on which to

"Ultimately, what people need to know about email senders is whether they can trust them," said Arabella Hallawell, Research Director for Gartner. "While reputation systems depend on the input data and how they are maintained, they will start to play an important role in helping consumers and enterprises continue to combat spam."

There are currently many industry-wide initiatives underway to secure email by authenticating the sender of the message; however, authentication alone is not enough. Only the combination of authentication with reputation will restore users trust in email.  Brightmail is working with several of its technology partners, including Microsoft and IronPort, to ensure that the benefits of the Brightmail Reputation Service add an additional layer of security to enterprise email systems.

"Helping to ensure that email remains a trusted communications tool for users is critical," said Ryan Hamlin, General Manager, Anti-Spam Technology and Strategy Group at Microsoft. "This kind of reputation information enables filters to more effectively prevent spam from reaching users' inboxes and we are excited to work with Brightmail on its Reputation Service."

"Brightmail and IronPort continue to collaborate to offer solutions to keep email secure and reliable," said Tom Gillis, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at IronPort. "Identity and reputation-based solutions, along with industry leadership and collaboration, are essential components to solving the spam problem." (ma)

Brightmail

Tel. (001-415) 365-6120

E-Mail: linda@brightmail.com

Web: www.brightmail.com