Qurb 3.0 Helps SMBs Put Spam In Its Place

While there are numerous antispam solutions on the market—from all-in-one appliances to e-mail server-based tools—end users are still finding spam in their inboxes. What's more, small businesses often don't have the budget to afford high-end antispam tools, and therefore turn to less-effective, desktop-based tools. Solution providers servicing the SMB market will find a valuable ally in Qurb's Qurb 3.0. Qurb 3.0 is designed to integrate with Microsoft Outlook and works with Outlook 2000, 2002/XP and 2003, as well as Outlook Express 5.5 and 6.0. Qurb uses several technologies to protect users from spam and phishing schemes and adds a powerful Outlook search tool. Qurb 3.0 also supports Microsoft Exchange Server e-mail clients that use a desktop version of Outlook.

Qurb 3.0 is easy to install and demonstrate to end users. The product blocks spam by only allowing e-mail from an end-user-built whitelist. Simply put, only e-mail from known sources is accepted. If the e-mail address is not on the user's list, then it is quarantined. While setting up whitelists may sound like a time-consuming burden, it's easier than it seems because Qurb applies an intelligent process to automatically build a basic whitelist from both a user's address book and sent e-mails.

Qurb offers several methods for dealing with spam. Spam can be automatically quarantined, deleted or blocked. End users can fine-tune the product to handle spam notification, and Qurb also offers simple single-click controls to permanently block a spam message or whitelist it, which helps keep false positives to a minimum. Spam messages are automatically deleted after a user-defined interval. If a persistent spammer continues to send messages, Qurb automatically blacklists the sender. Those messages are sent to a separate folder and are never displayed to the user. Qurb can also generate a customizable confirmation e-mail challenge to new senders. If the sender simply replies to the challenge message, Qurb releases the original message to the user's inbox and adds the sender to the Approved list. Qurb battles phishing schemes using the industry-standard Sender Policy Framework message authentication. Companies register with the service to prove message authenticity and verify that the message is not spoofed. Qurb also integrates a search feature that allows users to search Outlook data using partial words or Boolean logic.

Qurb's channel program is open to solution providers and ISPs. The program offers logos, links to Qurb's Web site and up to 50 percent commission on product referrals. Qurb 3.0 starts at $29.95 for a single license. Volume discounts are available for multiple license purchases.