Antivirus Vendors Prep Antispam Solutions

Symantec will release an enterprise antispam solution this quarter, according to sources close to the company. The solution won't be a stand-alone product, they said.

Symantec, based here, declined to comment.

Trend Micro, also based here, said it plans to release a corporate antispam solution with a high "capture rate" and low false positives. The solution will have on-premise control and respond faster to changing spamming strategies than competing products.

Postini, an e-mail security provider based in Redwood City, Calif., said last month that it signed a long-term deal to license its antispam engine to Trend Micro.

Network Associates, Santa Clara, Calif., last month said it acquired antispam provider Deersoft. The vendor plans to roll out a multitiered defense against spam over the year, a spokeswoman said.

In April, Network Associates plans to release the first product of that strategy--SpamKiller for Exchange, a desktop solution. Between July and October, the company will release additional antispam solutions for the enterprise that integrate with its McAfee GroupShield and WebShield products to provide protection at e-mail servers and Internet gateways.

Steven Palange, president and CEO of TLIC Worldwide, a Boston-based solution provider, said customers are demanding antispam technology.

"People are actually calling us and saying, 'You sold us antivirus protection two years ago and we're looking for some type of spam prevention,'" he said.

Spam filtering may be the evolution of antivirus technology, Palange said. "Maybe spam is the next virus plague," he added.

Some solution providers have said current antispam products aren't very effective. "I've tried a few and the most they block is 10 percent to 25 percent," said one security specialist. He added that the time wasted in verifying that an antispam product doesn't delete legitimate e-mail makes it a "big time money sink."

A recent survey by Public Opinion Strategies showed that 88 percent of the 1,400 people queried said they support antispam legislation.

Ferris Research predicts that spam will cost U.S. companies more than $10 billion this year due to lost productivity, consumption of IT resources and help-desk support.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Have your anti-spam solution featured in CRN. The CRN Test Center is taking applications from solution providers who have installed an innovative spam solution at a customer site. You must apply by February 28, 2003. To register, visit www.crn.com/spam