Clearswift Survey Reveals: More Than a Third of Organizations Never Refine Anti-Spam Tools Once Installed
55% of Organizations Believe Spam Defenses Are Inadequate
SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 4, 2004--The 2004 Spam Monitor survey undertaken by Clearswift, the MIMEsweeper Company, has revealed significant gaps in technology defenses deployed by businesses in the fight against spam.
The Clearswift poll, conducted online in association with TRUSTe, the nonprofit privacy certification and seal program, received responses from more than 1,200 businesspeople from around the world. It showed that while more than 72 per cent of organizations have some form of spam defenses in place, 55 per cent believe these are inadequate.
However, the survey revealed serious knowledge gaps which contributed to the ineffectiveness of their technology defenses. 36 per cent of those surveyed never refined and reconfigured their anti-spam tools, and 63 per cent did not use web filtering software in addition to email filtering technology to help fight against spam. Without refining anti-spam defenses it is not possible to keep up with the ever-evolving nature of spam, and any anti-spam solution without regular spam updates is worthless. Web filtering software is also crucial for blocking HTML spam, which spammers use to circumvent filtering at the SMTP gateway.
Poorly configured anti-spam tools contributed to high 'false positive' rates -- where legitimate email is mistaken for spam and quarantined -- with just over 14 per cent reporting false positive rates between 5-25 per cent, and three per cent of firms suffering an incredible false positive rate of over 25 per cent. Clearswift's technology offers a customer-proven false positive rate of 0.01 per cent.
Participation in international initiatives to curb spam was low. Only 14 percent of organizations took part in anti-spam initiatives such as Cauce, Jam Spam and Spamhaus, and an equally low number contributed to spam blacklists.
The survey also highlights other security deficiencies which spammers can take advantage of. Twenty-four percent of organizations admitted they had been used as an 'open relay' -- where a company's servers are used without their knowledge by a third party to send spam -- and a worrying 34 per cent didn't know if they had. An equally disturbing 30 per cent did not know if a spammer had used the company's wi-fi network to send spam.
"A multi-layered security technology approach which protects against both email and web-based threats is required to beat spam," Clearswift director of research, Alyn Hockey, said. "There is obviously much to be done to truly secure organizations against the spam threat. The good news for many businesses is that a lot of the work can be done with minimal disruption to business. Simply updating spam definitions daily, or several times a day as Clearswift customers can, will deliver much better performance from their anti-spam investment.
"However, many companies will need to review their anti-spam defenses in light of unacceptably high false positive rates. One-size-fits-all anti-spam systems won't suit every organization and a proven, flexible solution which businesses can tailor to their particular requirements will be far more effective in stopping spam and eliminating false positives."
The 2004 Clearswift Spam Monitor survey is based on the input of 1,260 professionals at middle to senior IT management level who participated in an online study commissioned by Clearswift in October 2003. The survey is representative of a cross-section of industry sectors and geographies. The largest groups of respondents were based in the USA, UK, Australia, France and Germany. Responses were received from 45 countries in all. Respondents worked in small, medium and large organizations -- 38.7 per cent worked in organizations of fewer than 50 people, 18 per cent in organizations of between 50 and 500 people, 5.5 percent in organizations of between 500 and 1,000 people and 30.3 per cent worked in organizations with more than 1,000 people.
About Clearswift:
Clearswift is the world's leading provider of software for managing and securing electronic communications. Clearswift solutions ensure business compliance through safe messaging, secure boundaries and best practice in electronic communications. Clearswift delivers the capabilities for organizations to protect themselves against email and web-based threats, meet legal and regulatory requirements, implement productivity-saving policies and manage intellectual property passing through their network.
Clearswift product portfolio includes MIMEsweeper(TM), the world's leading family of content security products for email and Web, as well as a range of highly specialized security solutions for Government and Defense organizations. More information about Clearswift, its products and services is available at www.clearswift.com
Clearswift, MAILsweeper, MIMEsweeper, spamActive and ENTERPRISEsuite are trademarks or registered trademarks, in the United States, United Kingdom and certain other countries, of Clearswift Limited. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the individual companies and are respectfully acknowledged.
Contacts
Clearswift
Susan Majerus, 480-354-4334
susanm@intelecgroup.com
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