Last month, another email service provider in the Nordics selected Mailspect Defense Standard with Cloudmark and F-PROT because it combines high speed, excellent antivirus and antispam accuracy, a best-of-breed end-user interface and a flexible pricing model. Based on Open Source Linux distributions and middleware, Mailspect Defense also lowers operating costs and enables the hosting service provider to use commodity hardware.

At the core of Mailspect’s offering is a world class support staff that makes sure that every aspect of the operating system, middleware stack and application is optimized for performance and customer satisfaction.

Problem Definition
Previously, MVZ Dortmund had 170 end-users of its email system. The system used Postfix as a Mail Transport Agent at the network level and emails were stored as .pst files on the desktop computers using Outlook. Spam filtering, email archiving (although it is required by German law) and groupware features like shared calendars did not exist.

This old system had a lot of disadvantages. End–users could only access their emails at their desks. Inboxes were not protected from spam, causing the users to waste time manually cleaning their inboxes. Central administration was impossible, vastly increasing the workload of the IT Department.

Solution
To improve the situation, MVZ Dortmund decided to modernize their email system. The implementation of a groupware system was needed to give end-users more control over their emails and calendars as well as automatically filter the email stream for spam and viruses. The regulatory requirement to archive emails needed to be met as well as centralized user administration in order to significantly reduce the amount of support.

To undertake this complex migration, MVZ Dortmund recognized that they needed the support of a system integrator with special competencies in email and Open Source software, in light of the company’s decision to implement a heterogeneous IT infrastructure. Already in 2006, Thomas Kroeger, Administrator at MVZ Dortmund, met representatives of bitbone AG at a trade show. bitbone specializes in Open Source systems and groupware in particular. The first joint project involved implementing a fax server using bitkit|FAX, an integration tool developed by bitbone.

In 2009, bitbone started working on a concept for the implementation of the new email solution. “The new email system needed to be stable. The administrative workload and the system’s cost needed to be contained. Furthermore, we didn’t want to give up Outlook and we needed a bridge to mobile devices. And we wanted to keep our Postfix MTA,” said Thomas Kroeger.

The solution is a combination of the Zarafa groupware server with the email security and archiving modules from Mailspect and Postfix as the MTA. “Going for Zarafa were its comprehensive feature set and its small hardware footprint, integration with Outlook and affordable license fees. The fact that Postfix is bundled with Red Hat Enterprise Linux was a key selection criterion in addition to Red Hat’s reputation for reliability. The Mailspect modules convinced us with their incredible value proposal,” comments Thomas Kroeger regarding his reasons for accepting the proposed solution.

Project Implementation
After bitbone forwarded the Red Hat license key, Mr. Kroeger installed the operating system himself. “ We are familiar with Linux and we already had the a box with the Intel Xeon processor in-house. The implementation went quickly and was quite simple. The rest of the installation was done by Mr. Rueb from bitbone.” Within one work day, Zarafa, the two Mailspect modules for defense and archive as well as Postfix were up, configured and running. An additional work day was needed for quality assurance and documentation.

Conclusion
MVZ Dortmund has been won over by the performance of the new email system. “The system is flexible, stable and integrated well into the existing IT infrastructure,” states Thomas Kroeger. The individual solution components also got high marks: “With Zarafa, especially the web access is impressive and gives end-users the ability to work from their desktop or any networked device with a browser. It offers full synchronization with mobile devices, particularly with the iPhone. We discovered that we have new capabilities to receive faxes on mobile devices using bitkit|FAX as well as send PDFs from the mail server. Users can read the faxes on their mobile phones. In terms of administration, our workload has dropped significantly due to the excellent Outlook connectors provided by Zarafa.”

“Red Hat is also stable and meets our expectations perfectly. Inbound and outgoing emails are archived by Mailspect Archive and Mailspect Defense is reliably filtering around 15,000 emails per day and blocking 13,500 spams from our inboxes and putting them in quarantine,” explains Thomas Kroeger.

The good working relationship with bitbone is also worth mentioning. “In bitbone we found a competent partner who is there when we need them. Their professionals work hard at solving a problem if it should arise and don’t stop until it is solved. We are convinced that we have found the right system integrator.”

Mailspect Defense can manage, maintain, update and perform more than 200+ email security functions from one central point.  Highlights include:

Mailspect Defense works at three message processing phases:  pre-scan, scan and post-scan.  The following table shows at which phase a ‘function point’ is performed.

At Mailspect’s core is a policy group engine that lets systems administrators set up policies defining how each feature above will apply to a specific group of users.  The policy group engine can define a suite of scanning engines, reputation lists, content filters, thresholds and attachment filters by email direction –incoming or outgoing emails — for groups of users as small as one email address or as large as an enterprise LDAP or Active Directory.

For the end-user, Mailspect Defense provides an easy-to-access and use quarantine solution that is accessible via browser or email alert. End-users can Remove, Deliver, Forward, Reply, Save to Desktop, Export, Report False Positive, Print, or Add to Whitelist or Blacklist with one mouse click.

Mailspect Defense includes a proprietary integration technology called email stream management. It supports the integration of relational databases, HTTP services, and LDAP directories for the purpose of email scoring, routing, tracking and content /attachment stripping or adding — and any combination thereof.

Mailspect Defense is offered in Basic and Standard Versions

          •  Basic relies on the Open Source scanning engines, clamd and Spamassassin.
          •  Standard includes Cloudmark and F-PROT.  Mailshell is provided for Mac OS X.

Mailspect Defense is offered on Linux and OS X, or as a VMware appliance by special request.
•  Red Hat, Debian or Ubuntu 32/64-bit commercial and/or Open Source versions work out-of-the-box.
•  It works on OS X on an x86 machine.

Mailspect’s customer base is extremely loyal, with renewal rates near 100%.  Mailspect is not just a product; it is also a professional services offering including some of the best antivirus and antispam experts in the world.   Support and configuration via email are free and the real-time support staff is responsive via SKYPE and GoToMeeting.

Mailspect Defense is sold through an international partner network of distributors and value-added resellers.

Mailspect Defense is unique in its ability to combine flexibility with effectiveness in one easy-to-use platform.

The bottom line is that Mailspect Defense is faster, more accurate, more sophisticated and less hassle to administer than Open Source spam and virus filters and much more flexible than rigid, single-point email filtering appliances.

Key Features of Mailspect Defense: Manages all pre-scan, scan and post-scan email security functions, can be installed at the gateway or MTA or email server level of the network, very fast, four roles: global admin, domain admin, group admin and end user for quarantine system, control panel that integrates antivirus and antispam scanning engines such as clamAV, Spamassassin, Cloudmark, F-PROT, Mailshell, Sophos, or ESET; wokrs with LDAP directories, Active Directory and Google Oauth, integrated real-time blacklists like Spamhaus, Barracuda and reputation lists such as SURBL, content filters, offensive word lists, counter phishing techniques blocking NDR spammers, auto response spammers, backscatter and dictionary attackers, rate limiting by address, domain or content; end user generated (in quarantine) white and black lists, end user control of spamming scoring and actions, domain level white and black lists management, entire systems based on policies by address or domain or LDAP group, spam scoring and spam actions, complex mail routing, message tracking, logs and reports, fully integrated with Postfix, Communigate Pro, Zarafa, Qmail, Open-Xchange, works with any IMAP server or MTA or gateway, reskinnable, scalable, integrated data loss protection, email stream management scripting language and optional email archive. One platform for managing all your email requirements. Internet Service Providers, Email Provider, managed services providers, web site hosting providers all over the world use Mailspect Defense for most affordable and effective mail filtering.

Mailspect Archive’s features (including Open Source Antivirus/Anti-spam Defense):

Mailspect Archive’s top ten design goals are:  (1) work with any email server, service, MTA or gateway; (2) file metadata separate from content to effect fast search and discovery; (3) index virtually any text file type to support universal search; (4) manage users through LDAP directory integration, (5) compress the data store up to 80% through de-duplication;  (6) block computer viruses and spam from entering the archive; (7) work with commercial and Open Source Linux distributions and OS X; (8) offer robust message tracking and system monitoring to facilitate systems management; (9) facilitate the import of more than 20 file types to support the consolidation of legacy mail stores; and (10) make the system easy to install and maintain.

Mailspect Archive also offers content filtering options that can be used to sort relevant email from personal/irrelevant email.  Content filtering can further help reduce the size of the archive and save money.  Content filtering can also be used to configure queries of the Archive that will trigger periodic, automatic reports via email based on key or offensive words.  Mailspect Archive supports Microsoft Exchange journaling and .PST import (with a third-party parser).

For the end-user, Mailspect Archive can be accessed by web browser and his or her normal email address and password.  End-users can use the archive to find and recover lost email.  End-users have access to the following individual and bulk commands using the Action Ribbon in the Message Viewer: Deliver, Forward, Reply, Save to Desktop, Export, Print, Add to Whitelist, or Add to Blacklist.

Deploy Mailspect Archive on Amazon Web Services as a private cloud or on your own on-premise gateway or server. Mailspect Archive works with any email system whether it is Open Source, Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X. Mailspect supports major products like MS Exchange Journaling, Lotus Notes, or IMAP email servers such as Postfix, Sendmail, Qmail, CommuniGate Pro, Scalix, Zarafa, Zimbra, Axigen, Open-Xchange and others.

Tarrytown, New York, August 15, 2011 – RAE Internet Inc., the developer of the Mailspect Defense, announced the release of a new version its email security software today. The new release fully integrates F-PROT Anti-virus ‘Fire & Ice’ into Mailspect Defense and its Control Panel. The Control Panel is designed for email administrators at enterprises, managed service providers, educational institutions and governments. It controls and cleans the email stream at the gateway or mail server levels during the pre-scan or queue, scan, and post-scan or queue phases. Previously, Mailspect Defense offered (1) one click installation, (2) automatic updating of virus signatures and (3) analytics for the Clamd, ESET and Sophos computer virus scanning engines. Now, Mailspect has expanded its offering to include the F-PROT Antivirus engine on Linux, Unix and OS X.

“We added F-PROT ‘Fire & Ice’ because it is a good deal for our ISP, education, government and enterprise customers. It is priced substantially below other vendors and offers comparable performance levels as evidence by its many VB100 certifications. Plus we have more and more customers who are on the OS X operating system, and they need world class antivirus protection.”, said Paul L. Sterne, President, RAE Internet Inc., dba Mailspect and Match My Email.

“F-PROT is an efficient and effective antivirus scanner with state-of-the-art near-real time micro-updating and comprehensive logging and analytics,” said Serhiy Fyrin, Head of Development, Mailspect. “Combined with Mailspect’s many features such as Quarantine and our comprehensive suite of pre- and post-scan defense tools, Mailspect with F-PROT offers world class technology at a fraction of the price of competitors such a Kasperky, Sophos, ESET, McAfee and Norton Symantec.”

“Our relationship with Frisk Software International, the developer of F-PROT in Iceland, is tight. We have direct access to their lead developers and can escalate issues involving new viruses or Trojans quickly for our customers,” said Ovidiu Bivolaru, Head of Support, Mailspect.

Virus Bulletin is the leading publication dedicated to computer security. Virus Bulletin carries out independent testing of anti-virus products. Its unique VB100 certification is widely recognized within the industry. Unlike other certification schemes, Virus Bulletin tests all products free of charge and does not allow re-testing.

About RAE Internet www.raeinternet.com
RAE Internet, Inc., headquartered in Tarrytown, N.Y., is the developer of Mailspect Defense and  Archive. The Mailspect platform is used by email administrators at enterprises, managed service providers, ISP’s, email service providers, schools and governments to protect and extract value from the email stream at either the gateway or mail server level. Mailspect Defense integrates with the leading antivirus and antispam engines (i.e., Clamd, Cloudmark, ESET, F-PROT, Mailshell, Sophos and Spamassassin) as well as provides a comprehensive suite of email protection, cleaning and management features.

Contact Info: Simon Duncan, info (a) raeinternet.com

About FRISK Software International www.f-prot.com
FRISK Software International, established in 1993, is one of the world’s leading companies in antivirus research and product development. FRISK Software produces the hugely popular F-PROT Antivirus products range offering unrivalled heuristic detection capabilities. By supporting a wide range of operating systems — Windows, Unix, and Linux — FRISK Software protects computers, file servers and mail servers of all sizes, running on diverse platforms.

The email routing specification involves looking at a subset of the domain’s email recipients for incoming emails with attached invoices. Messages with invoices are segregated and then passed through a content filter to find key descriptors in the message body. Based on a descriptor match or not, emails are then routed to the right recipient.

The workflow will greatly improve the municipal utility’s processing of incoming invoices and has a payback of less than one month, based on labor savings. Plus the accuracy and speed of invoice processing increased.

The solution was made possible by Mailspect’s proprietary Email Stream Management integration technology. ESM uses a number of fixed and flexible processing engines to filter email and attachments for content and then forward the matched email to a designated recipient email address or relational database such as MySQL. Email Stream Management is the technology underlying Match My Email, a cloud service that automatically sorts and syncs email into the right Salesforce.com record(s).

For more information on Email Stream Management which is built into Mailspect Basic and Standard, visit Mailspect’s wiki at:  http://esm.mailspect.com/index.php/Main_Page . Email Stream Management can also be used to implement outbound Data Loss Protection projects.

“Mailspect Defense is an end-to-end email security solution for mail gateways and servers. Through its control panel, Mailspect Manager, the software manages email security during all three phases of email processing: before it enters the email queue, during antivirus and anti-spam scanning and in post-queue quarantine. The software protects against computer viruses, spam, phishing, malware and Internet attacks. In post-queue, Mailspect Defense provides a state-of-the-art email quarantine that lets end-users and systems administrators manage “grey” email. With version 1.7.3, the end-user can act upon the emails in the quarantine using one-click button commands to: Remove, Deliver, Forward, Reply, Save to desktop, Export, Report False Positive, Print, Add to Whitelist or Add to Blacklist. The buttons are self-explanatory and easy-to use”, said Paul Sterne, president, RAE Internet, Mailspect’s parent company.

“ We took the new interface ideas that we had incorporated into a sister product, Match My Email, a email integration application for Salesforce.com, and applied them to Mailspect Defense. The net result is a much cleaner and intuitive interface that improves the customer experience.” said Serhiy Fyrin, Head of Development, RAE Internet Inc., the owner of the Mailspect brand.

“We also incorporated the Action Button inside of the actual email so that there is no jumping between windows in order to take an action.” said Ovidiu Bivolaru, Product Manager, Mailspect Defense.

Version 1.7.3 also includes a number of improvements based on customer and reseller requests.

1. White and Black Lists handle aliases automatically
2. F-PROT anti-virus scanner is detected by Control Panel.
3. Easier search for blacklist entries.
4. Domain admin is not allowed to change his or her own permissions within Mailspect.
5. Domain admin is not allowed to set user permissions (domains, aliases) that are outside of the scope of his or her own permissions.

About RAE Internet
RAE Internet, Inc. is headquartered in Tarrytown, N.Y. with operations in Romania and the Ukraine. RAE Internet is the developer of Email Stream Management, the proprietary technology underlying its end-to-end email security and archive solution, Mailspect , and its email-to-database integration application, Match My Email. RAE Internet offers three products: Mailspect Defense that offers end-to-end security for email gateways and servers; Mailspect Archive that archives e-mail in compliance with regulations; and Match My Email that integrates e-mail and its attachments with core business applications like Salesforce.com. RAE Internet is also the North American distributor of F-PROT Antivirus ‘Fire & Ice’ and a worldwide reseller of Cloudmark.
Contact Info: Paul Sterne, president , sterne ( a ) Mailspect.com

According to Mr. Bodis, “Mailspect Defense is ideal for small Internet Service Providers who want to provide value-added services to their customers.  Mailpect enables Yellow Cube to offer world class antivirus and antispam protection based on a powerful combination of Mailspect’s email firewall, Cloudmark, Clamd, SURBL, and other Real-Time Black Lists.  Using Mailspect’s flexible policy engine, the filtering service is tailored to each client’s individual requirements.  Thanks to Mailspect’s flexibility in integrating with different databases and back-end systems, almost everything is automated now and setting up a new client requires just a few clicks.  By hosting the virtual Mailspect filtering appliance in a rented cluster, we never face unexpected costs or downtime, and the whole system can scale up to thousands of accounts without any modification.”

“Mailspect offers special pricing to ISP’s and web site hosting providers who sell email services.  Our pricing is designed to ensure that small Internet Service Providers can effectively compete against the industry giants with local support and a fully customizable experience.”, said Paul Sterne, President of RAE Internet Inc. (dba Mailspect and Match My Email).

“ We are able to localize the web interface and create custom, per-user rules and filters that really work in the marketplace.  It is a really great ‘set and forget’ solution.  Plus we can rely on Mailspect’s real-time support to help us get the most out of the platform.  They treat us like we are their most important partner.”

Cloudmark is known for having a world class antispam scanner that produces virtually ‘No False Positives”. False positive are particularly annoying to users and security administrators alike and cause customer dissatisfaction. Open Source scanners like Spamassassin, unfortunately, produce too many false positives which turns off enterprise and ISP users that requires near 100% antispam accuracy.

Cloudmark’s antivirus module is based on the same world class technology as its spam filters.

Cloudmark’s patented solutions combine Advanced Message Fingerprinting technology based on innovative, highly efficient algorithms, a Global Threat Network consisting of trusted reporters across the globe, real-time, automated analysis of traffic and content patterns, along with security research expertise, to provide real-time security intelligence and filtering across carrier networks. Cloudmark solutions protect more than 1.6 billion subscribers for the world’s largest networks.

This carrier-grade technology is now available through Mailspect Defense to smaller ISP’s and small and medium businesses using Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, Open-Xchange, Zimbra, Postifix, Communigate and Zarafa.

Mailspect Defense has three technology components: a Mail Filter, a Control Panel and a Message Viewer. The mail filter incorporates pre-queue and post-queue email scanning technologies that protect against email virus and spam as well as Internet attacks like denial of service. The Control Panel enables the system administrator to create and manage policy groups with specific security requirements and content filters. The Message Viewer is a sophisticated quarantine solutions that also incorporates email stream management capabilities like Disclaimers, Reports and Data Loss Protection.

In response to customer demand, Mailspect Defense and Archive have been ported to Debian Version 6.0 which is code named ‘Squeeze’.  The port was accomplished within three weeks of the release of this new stable version of Debian on February 6, 2011.  Debian runs on computers ranging from palmtops and handheld systems to supercomputers, and on nearly everything in between. A total of nine architectures are supported by Debian GNU/Linux: 32-bit PC / Intel IA-32 (i386), 64-bit PC / Intel EM64T / x86-64 (amd64), Motorola/IBM PowerPC (powerpc), Sun/Oracle SPARC (sparc), MIPS (mips (big-endian) and mipsel (little-endian)), Intel Itanium (ia64), IBM S/390 (s390), and ARM EABI (armel).

Mailspect Defense is an end-to-end security solution for Linux mail servers.  It provides a powerful control panel that manages the pre-scan, scan and post-scan phases of a comprehensive email defense system.  It configures and updates real-time black lists, spamtraps, user generated white- and black lists, denial of service thresholds, and dictionary attackers  in the pre-scan phase;, antivirus, antispam, content  and SURBL engines in the scan phase and quarantine, logs and reports in the post-scan phase.    For Windows users, Mailspect Defense is implemented using VMware.

Mailspect Archive provides tamper-proof storage of the network email stream.  It incorporates the antivirus and antispam features of Mailspect Defense.  It’s powerful full-text search engine makes email retrieval and discovery easy and fast.