Cloudmark Spamnet
> Larger image
Similar articles
ADVERTISEMENT
Reviews Disclaimer
Readers are reminded that the opinions expressed, and the results published in connection with reviews and/or laboratory test reports carried out on computing systems and/or related items are confined to, and representative of, only those goods supplied and should not be construed as a recommendation to purchase.

Cloudmark Spamnet

A collaborative way to banish spam.

What is this?
Price: £2.25
Manufacturer: Cloudmark



Ratings
Overall rating: Overall rating
Rate this product
Verdict

Pros:
Supremely effective at what it does; easy to use.

Cons:
Limited to Microsoft email clients; filtering process can be slow.

Overall:
The community-based approach makes Spamnet an effective tool against the spam problem.


Andy Gibbons, Personal Computer World 26 Jul 2004

ADVERTISEMENT

With the scourge of junk email showing no sign of abating, using a spam filter of some description is unavoidable, particularly where children are likely to be on the receiving end of some offensive examples.

While spammers devise devious means of slipping their wares past rule-based filters, Spamnet adopts a more organic approach, relying on the collective judgement of close to a million users (or Spamfighters) to decide what is and isn't spam.

Available as a subscription-based add-on for Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express, downloaded email is checked against the Spamnet database and any matches automatically moved to a spam folder.

The Spamnet toolbar provides constantly updated statistics for both the individual and the Spamnet community as a whole. Additional buttons allow missed junk messages to be relayed back to Spamnet's database, as well as the unblocking of false positives.

For the Outlook version a trust system is used to weight reports, and members who routinely identify spam correctly will have more reliance placed on their opinion than those who block legitimate messages. It also prevents spammers from exerting an influence by unblocking their own spam.

An impressive 95 per cent success rate is claimed and we wouldn't dispute this. We tested for several weeks with a number of exceptionally spam-prone email accounts and achieved a near perfect detection rate with very few false positives.

Contact:

Cloudmark
A HREF=http://www.cloudmark.com target=_blank>www.cloudmark.com

System requirements:

  • Windows 98 or greater
  • Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2002/XP, 2003 or Outlook Express
  • Microsoft Exchange or POP3 email account


Price details:
RRP $3.99 (approx £2.25) monthly subscription; free 30-day trial.

See also:

BopspamA pricey, but effective spam blocker  18 Oct 2004
Spam ShredderAnother way to stop unsavoury material from cluttering your inbox.  03 Sep 2004
SpamStopUpStop unwanted emails clogging your inbox - at least, that's the theory.  17 Jun 2004
Aladdin Spamcatcher 3Reduce spam with this competent filter.  07 Apr 2004

All Email

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

Post this to Delicious del.icio.us    Post this to Digg Digg this    Post this to reddit reddit!

Permalink for this story

R E A D E R   R E V I E W S
M A R K E T P L A C E
Sponsored links