Commtouch Launches New Outbound Spam Protection Solution for Service Providers

Innovative Solution Enables Service Providers to Prevent Spam from Leaving Their Networks and Identify the Spamming Source

(25.03.10) - Commtouch (Nasdaq: CTCH) formally announced its new "Outbound Spam Protection" solution especially tailored for service providers and Web hosting companies. This solution leverages Commtouch’s many years of experience in combating spam, malware and phishing with its real-time "Recurrent Pattern Detection" (RPD) technology and further augments its email and Web security package for ISPs, Web hosting companies and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers.

Customer loss, damage to service providers' reputation and brand, operational cost increases and even potential lawsuits are just some of the possible consequences service providers face as a result of spam, malware and phishing emails emanating from their networks. Commtouch's Outbound Spam Protection solution not only stops these unwanted emails but also provides the service provider with immediate identification of the sender. This enables appropriate management of the source of the problem and not just the symptoms.

"Outbound spam is a critical problem facing service providers and Web hosting providers," said Michael Osterman, president and founder of Osterman Research. "Current solutions to address the problem are inadequate and result in blocked email, false positives and lost employee productivity. The lack of technology to block spam emanating from their own networks and to identify the source of it is a major piece missing from email protection services today."

"Our ISP customers constantly tell us that outbound spam is the biggest operational headache they face. Each week they spend countless hours getting off blacklists and chasing down compromised accounts or spammers on their networks," said Frank Knifsend, senior vice president of products, marketing, and operations at Mirapoint. "With Commtouch’s new solution, our ISP customers will instantly identify and stop zombie and intentional spammers, so they can keep their customers’ mail flowing, preventing them from being blacklisted and maintaining their reputations."

A small, efficient local engine installed in the service provider’s network implements the same patented RPD technology used in Commtouch’s cloud-based detection center to analyze local service provider traffic, detecting outbound spam within seconds with almost no false positives. The service provider receives the sender’s address as well as samples of the blocked emails for analysis.

Because the problem differs significantly from that of inbound spam, the potential hazards of outbound spam require a distinctive approach to protect service providers against this rapidly growing threat.

"Many companies simply reverse engineer their inbound spam protection to provide service providers and vendors with an outbound spam prevention tool," said Asaf Greiner, vice president of products at Commtouch. "Instead, Commtouch has specifically built a solution leveraging its well-established RPD technology to stop spam and enable service delivery and abuse teams to deal with the spammer efficiently and cost effectively."

Whether it is spam, malware or phishing, Commtouch blocks it in real-time. The solution also detects any type of outbound spam source, including zombie computers, compromised accounts, spammer accounts and webmail spammers.

The technology reduces expenses associated with resolving blocked IPs, handling angry customers and increased hardware and support staff requirements. Customer satisfaction should increase accordingly, as customers benefit from a high level of service.

The Protection solution is currently available for easy integration into service provider and Web hosting companies’ existing messaging infrastructure.

This new outbound solution complements Commtouch’s comprehensive suite for service providers, focused on reducing costs and improving service quality. Commtouch’s inbound Anti-Spam catches up to 99 percent of spam through its cloud-based Recurring Pattern Detection technology, while Zero-Hour Virus Outbreak Protection shields infrastructure from new malware variants in the earliest moments of their release. GlobalView Mail Reputation blocks up to 90 percent of unwanted mail at the perimeter of a network. GlobalView URL Filtering lets service providers build competitive web security offerings, such as parental control, based on an in-the-cloud URL database categorizing hundreds of millions of sites. (Commtouch: ma)