The adage ‘the best defense is a good offense’ is being put into action in the war against spam through Commtouch’s (News - Alert) new Outbound Spam Protection solution, which has been especially tailored for Internet service providers and Web hosting companies.

It not only stops unwanted e-mails, but also provides ISPs and web hosters with immediate identification of the senders. This enables appropriate management of the source of the problem, and not just the symptoms.

Outbound Spam Protection leverages Commtouch’s many years of experience in combating spam, malware and phishing with its real-time Recurrent Pattern Detection(TM) (RPD(TM)) technology. It further augments the firm’s e-mail and Web security package for ISPs, Web hosting companies and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS (News - Alert)) providers.

Here’s how Outbound Spam Protection works: A small, efficient local engine installed in the service providers’ networks 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 providers receive the senders’ addresses as well as samples of the blocked e-mails 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.

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. Commtouch’s technology thereby 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.

“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 e-mail, 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 e-mail protection services today.”

“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.”

Commtouch customers are looking forward to the new solution. “Our ISP customers constantly tell us that outbound spam is the biggest operational headache they face,” said Frank Knifsend, senior vice president of products, marketing, and operations at Mirapoint (News - Alert). “Each week they spend countless hours getting off blacklists and chasing down compromised accounts or spammers on their networks. 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.”