GFI MailEssentials is a server-based anti-spam tool for Microsoft Exchange or SMTP/POP3 servers. The tool scans messages at the organization's E-mail gateway, allowing for the identification (via IP reputation, Bayesian filters, whitelist/blacklist settings, header analysis, and SURBL comparisons) and administrator configured disposition of spam messages. According to the vendor, GFI MailEssentials' accuracy rate is better than 98% following a required two-week "learning" period.

GFI MailEssentials now features a pair of anti-spam filtering engines; the original Bayesian filtering-based engine, and the new SpamRazer engine, which is based on frequently updated spam definitions from the vendor.

The Bayesian filtering technology seeks to identify spam messages by applying mathematical analysis both to known spam message signatures and information (which is provided by GFI Software and automatically kept up to date by GFI MailEssentials) as well as the organization's own E-mail traffic patterns. Outbound E-mail from the company, for example, is automatically classified as valid E-mail and analyzed as such within the Bayesian algorithms; thus the filter "learns" over time which E-mails are or are not spam for the company. Additionally, administrators can assist the filtering technology by dragging and dropping known spam and valid E-mails into designated public folders; these messages will then be automatically incorporated into the E-mail identification process.

While the Bayesian engine can take up to two weeks to "learn" a particular company's spam vs. ham characteristics, the new SpamRazer engine, according to the vendor, works out of the box; relying instead on "frequent updates."

GFI MailEssentials can also filter messages based on whitelist/blacklist settings, E-mail header information, SURBL comparisons, and SPF checks.

Both custom and 3rd party blacklists (ORDB, SpamHaus, Spamcop) are supported; and whitelists are built automatically via the collection of recipient addresses of outbound E-mails sent by the organization. Whitelists can also be tuned directly via domain names, E-mail addresses and keywords; and end users can add addresses to white/blacklists by dragging and dropping messages to designated public folders.

Messages identified as spam can be deleted, moved to a public folder, forwarded, or sent directly to a user-designated inbox folder (such as "junk") for further review by the intended recipient.

Other features in GFI MailEssentials include a list server (newsletters and discussion lists) with subscribe/unsubscribe controls (the list server utilizes Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server on the back end); automatic archiving of inbound and outbound E-mails to Microsoft SQL Server; reporting; customizable header/footer text for all messages sent through the server (both text and HTML supported); LDAP support in directory harvesting checks; and anti-phishing capabilities (the engine detects phishing E-mails by comparing the URIs in the E-mail to a database of known phishing URIs and by looking for typical phishing keywords in the URIs.

New features in the latest MailEssentials release (beyond the addition of the SpamRazer engine) include a real-time dashboard reporting software status and E-mail flow; improved Exchange performance via the ability to hook into the Exchange server at the protocol level (so messages already identified as spam needn't be downloaded in their entirety); and daily spam reporting features (how many E-mails received by an individual and how many were identified as spam and filtered).

GFI MailEssentiNotals requires Exchange Server 2000/2003/2007/4/5/5.5, Lotus Domino 6, or an SMTP/POP3 Mail Server with the IIS5 SMTP service installed and running as an SMTP relay to the mail server. The list server feature requires Microsoft Message Queueing Services. .NET Framework 2.0 is also required.

Pricing starts at $207 for 10 mailboxes; volume discounts, and upgrade pricing are available. Bundled packages are also available with the vendor's GFI MailSecurity offering (anti-virus and content checking) starting at $257 for 10 mailboxes. Pricing includes anti-spam and anit-phishing updates for the first year; after which yearly subscription pricing (currently $50/year for 10 mailboxes) applies. A 10-day evaluation version is also available.

Visit the GFI Web site for further information.