FAQ

Below is a list of frequently asked questions and there answers.

• How does it work?

   

  Basically you redirect your emails to our SpamPatrol mail gateway by changing your MX record or we can pop them from your mailbox. When we receive your message it goes through the following passes.

  • Black List
  • White List
  • Header analysis
  • Body of the message analysis
  • Attachment analysis
  • Attachment Virus Scan
  • Threat Analysis

  After your message has gone through the above process it is either tagged as 'spam' or genuine email ('ham'). Genuine email is then forwarded onto your own mail gateway. Any email recognised as spam will be quarantined, and wait for you to action it using the online management portal.

• Is SpamPatrol right for me?

   

  If you receive unsolicited junk emails and viruses by email then the answer is yes.

• How do I use the SpamPatrol service?

   

  That depends on the type of mail service you have.

  For SMTP; after you have registered for the service you will need to change the MX record on your Internet domain name to point to smtp.spampatrol.co.uk when a message is received for your domain name it will go through the SpamPatrol filter and then be delivered to your original mail gateway.

  For POP3; SpamPatrol will pull the messages from your existing mailbox and leave the washed email in a SpamPatrol secure mailbox. You then simply change your POP3 settings on your email client to receive your messages from pop.spampatrol.co.uk instead of your Internet Service Provider.

• Are Virus Hoax emails detected by SpamPatrol

   

  Although hoax virus email doesn't contain a real virus, an anti-virus gateway will not spot it. SpamPatrol's analysis recognises it as spam, and therefore blocks these type of messages.

• What happens to a spam email?

   

  Any spam email will automatically be quarantined and wait for you to access it via the SpamPatrol portal; either to confirm it as spam or, more rarely, rescue it. If you confirm it as spam email, SpamPatrol uses that information to improve its recognition of spam in the future.

• Is there a limit on the number of addresses that customers can imput in their own white and black lists?

   

  No. There is no limit for the configurable whitelists and blacklists.

• What happens if SpamPatrol blocks a non-spam email?

   

  The message would be in the quarantined area waiting for you to action it. So in this case you would use the portal and select the message as 'ham'.

• How do I know if a message has been scanned by SpamPatrol?

   

  Every message that goes through the SpamPatrol service will have additional information added to the messages header.

• What is the technology behind the anti-spam service?

   

  SpamPatrol uses continually monitored heuristic rules, self learning Bayesian analysis of content and public collaborative relay & blacklist databases. Emails are scanned using these rules (some 6000 plus and rising) which build a view of the probability of the email being spam. If the email achieves more than a trigger score it is classified as spam and action is taken as chosen by the customer.

• We use an SMTP solution, isn't this the same as your product?

   

  Compared with standalone gateway solutions our service offers several key advantages:

  • We use a number of virus scanners.
  • The system is continuously updating the anti-virus signatures.
  • There is no hardware, software or management required by the customer - we do everything.
  • Scalability - our system is completely scalable avoiding the limitations and single point of failure inherent in single machine/LAN solutions.
  • Through our customers portal, we provide real time service statistics and reports.
  • PLUS you get a FREE TRIAL.

• How often do you update the signatures for your virus scanners?

   

  We use commercial and open source anti-virus scanners. All anti-virus signatures are continuously updated. We also monitor the key anti-virus web sites and hack centres for breaking news and trend analysis .

• Do you measure volumes of email passing through our network and virus activity levels?

   

  Yes, every customer is given access to their activity information; this is a private customer portal providing comprehensive service statistics and reports in real time.

• Does the SpamPatrol email security system slow the delivery of email down?

   

  SpamPatrol maintains comprehensive statistics on all email passing through our system. It takes 12 seconds to process an average email.

• We already have an anti-virus solution - why would we need more?

   

  The SpamPatrol anti-virus solution should be seen as an additional layer of defence that supports what you already have in place. Although desktop anti-virus products are an essential part of any anti-virus policy, it's difficult to ensure that the virus signature files are maintained especially where mobile users are concerned. With the huge increase in Internet and email use, intercepting viruses closer to the source is logical and will add a new layer of defence and protection.

• What happens if SpamPatrol detects a virus but the document contained important information which the customer needed urgently?

   

  Infected email are kept in a secure area for 14 days. Emails can also be released by the customer to the intended address through the secure customer portal.