A c t i o n f o r L i b r a r i e s — O c t o b e r 2 0 0 2

The Internet Connection

By Michael Sauers

Fighting Spam: You Are Not Alone
New software is available to assist in keeping spam e-mail from overrunning your inbox — SpamNet. SpamNet software is made by Cloudmark and is a plugin for Outlook 2000 and XP. (Support for Outlook Express is in the works.)

Once installed and running, SpamNet watches your inbox for e-mail that it determines to be spam. If such e-mail is found, it is moved to a Spam folder. You can then simply delete the e- mail from the Spam folder. But if you find that an e-mail message you want has been determined to be spam, you can use the SpamNet toolbar to unblock that particular message. Future mailings from that sender will not be blocked on your machine.

Sometimes, SpamNet will miss a spam message. If so, a block button is provided that allows you to add that message to the blocked list. Any future mailings from that sender will be moved to the spam folder automatically by SpamNet.

This program works better than the many other anti-spam programs out there because SpamNet works off a central database of known spam. Here is how Cloudmark describes the system:

"When a spam message is submitted to Cloud- mark SpamNet, the system generates a secure fingerprint or signature of each message. This unique, but indistinguishable, fingerprint can now be securely shared with all the other SpamNet users to identify the same spam message in their e-mail. This system permits everyone to contribute to the fight against spam and ensures that all e-mail remains private." I've been using SpamNet for several months and have found nothing to complain about. It is currently in Beta release, so keeping an eye on the program's Web site is recommended for downloading updates www.cloudmark.com/products/spamnet/.

One note: From my experience, SpamNet runs best when you have disabled Outlook's Junk E- mail rule. If you run both SpamNet and Outlook's Junk E-mail filter, messages will be both deleted and moved to the spam folder.

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