Hosting Providers Improve Spam, Malware, Phishing Detection on Existing Infrastructure with Commtouch

"Many tools used by hosting providers may be 'free' in theory, but end up costing so much in infrastructure, integration and maintenance that they cancel out the so-called savings," said Gabriel Mizrahi, Commtouch vice president of technologies. "Hosting providers can save vast numbers of servers, bandwidth and storage, not to mention configuration time, by adding one or more of the Commtouch messaging security modules on top of - or instead of - their open source filtering methods."

Real-time, fully automated messaging security solutions from Commtouch block spam, phishing and malware without regard to messages' content-type or language. Commtouch solutions are based on Recurrent Pattern Detection (RPD), a unique, patented technology that identifies and blocks outbreaks in real time. Because Commtouch's solutions are completely automatic, they significantly reduce the amount of time required by system engineers, since they no longer need to make any software or rule updates or adjust their systems to improve protection.

For example, Commtouch consistently blocks new types of malware hours or even days before traditional signature-based anti-virus (see comparative malware outbreak data). Similarly, Commtouch automatically blocks new types of spam outbreaks, such as image-based spam or PDF spam.

Spam and malware often arrive in large waves that overwhelm servers and operations staff. Commtouch solutions block these huge outbreaks, enabling a much more predictable mail flow, and easing the usage of IT resources.

Avoid Being Blacklisted

A recurring problem for hosting providers occurs when one of their customers starts sending spam, and then other "innocent" senders on the same shared infrastructure or IP range start being considered spammers as well. Real-time Blackhole Lists (RBLs) do not distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate senders on a single or range of IP addresses, and will simply blacklist them all. This can ruin the reputation of the hosting provider and prevent its customers from sending legitimate mail.

Commtouch's Outbound Spam solution identifies and blocks unwanted email emanating from hosting providers' networks. These can be hosting customers that are either intentionally sending unwanted mail, or unintentionally, through lack of knowledge or because they are infected by a zombie Trojan.

Integration Toolbox Eases Integration

Commtouch provides a wide variety of tools to facilitate easy integration for hosting providers. The integration tools eliminate many of the typical roadblocks to implementing new solutions by reducing the engineering resources needed to integrate Commtouch technology. The integration tools include:

-- SpamAssassin plug-in

-- Commtouch Milter for Sendmail and Postfix

-- Plesk/cPanel plug-ins for these dedicated hosting platforms

-- RBL-compatible interface

The Commtouch plug-ins enable access to the following advanced Commtouch messaging security solutions:

-- Anti-Spam

-- Zero-Hour Virus Outbreak Protection

-- GlobalView(TM) Mail Reputation Service

In addition, many of Commtouch's email infrastructure partners provide various solutions for hosting providers.

Meet Commtouch at Hosting Industry Events

Commtouch representatives will be attending these key hosting events in the next several weeks:

-- HostingCon, Washington, DC, August 10-12

-- Parallels EMEA - Stockholm, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Cologne, Paris, Madrid, London, throughout the month of September

-- cPanel Conference - Houston, TX, Oct. 5-7

To arrange a meeting with a Commtouch representative at one of these events, please write to nospam@commtouch.com, or call 650-864-2114 (USA) or +972-9-863-6818 (Int'l).

About Commtouch

Commtouch(R) (NASDAQ:CTCH) provides proven messaging and Web security technology to more than 100 security companies and service providers for integration into their solutions. Commtouch's patented Recurrent Pattern Detection(TM) (RPD(TM)) and GlobalView(TM) technologies are founded on a unique cloud-based approach, and work together in a comprehensive feedback loop to protect effectively in all languages and formats. Commtouch technology automatically analyzes billions of Internet transactions in real-time in its global data centers to identify new threats as they are initiated, protecting email infrastructures and enabling safe, compliant browsing. The company's expertise in building efficient, massive-scale security services has resulted in mitigating Internet threats for thousands of organizations and hundreds of millions of users in 190 countries. Commtouch was founded in 1991, is headquartered in Netanya, Israel, and has a subsidiary in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Stay abreast of the latest messaging and Web threat trends all quarter long at the Commtouch Cafe: http://blog.commtouch.com. For more information about enhancing security offerings with Commtouch technology, see www.commtouch.com or write info@commtouch.com.

Recurrent Pattern Detection, RPD, Zero-Hour and GlobalView are trademarks, and Commtouch is a registered trademark, of Commtouch Software Ltd. U.S. Patent No. 6,330,590 is owned by Commtouch.

SOURCE: Commtouch

Commtouch 
Rebecca Steinberg Herson 
US: 650-864-2112 
Int'l: +972-9-863-6877 
rebeccah@commtouch.com