Cloudmark SpamNet beta 7d
http://www.wilsonweb.com/afd/cloudmark.htm
500 3rd Street, Suite 265
San Francisco, CA 94107
SpamNet for Outlook 2000/XP/2002, free beta version

How is it that a person who decries the evils of spam filtering programs finds himself using one and liking it?

Since I've had various e-mail addresses visible (and invisible) on my websites since 1995, I've been the victim of thousands of spam-bots that suck up any e-mail addresses they find on my webpages and send spam to them -- constantly. Of course, one can hide an e-mail address in a webpage and cut down on getting spammed. (See an accompanying article "Hiding Your E-Mail Address from Spam Bots" www.wilsonweb.com/wmt8/spambot_hiding.htm ) If you're running a business, however, you don't have the luxury of trashing e-mail addresses every six months. Somehow you need to lessen your spam load.

For the past couple of months I've been experimenting with Cloudmark SpamNet, a free add-on for Microsoft Outlook 2000, XP, and 2002. Support for Outlook Express is said to be "coming soon."

How It Works

Using "block" and "unblock" buttons that are installed on your Outlook application, SpamNet asks 250,000 users to determine what is spam. Items that are blocked are moved to a "Spam" folder and remain there until you delete them. Unlike spam filters that scan messages for words and phrases characteristic of spam, SpamNet asks users to block e-mail they receive that they perceive as spam -- and unblock messages that SpamNet falsely identifies as spam. As SpamNet runs on your computer, it uses your Internet connection to contact the main database reading spam and writing new block/unblock information. As Cloudmark explains:

"Only a relatively small number of spammers send out the billions of spam messages polluting the Internet. By reporting the spam you receive, you will contribute to the growing community of spam fighters dedicated to eradicating spam.... Cloudmark SpamNet allows us to share a central list of spam. Individually this reported spam isn't very powerful, but the collective reports of millions of email users networked together blocks virtually all spam on the Internet."

Installation

I found installation simple. You download a small .exe file. To begin you double click on the file and it installs an add-on to MS Outlook, adding a "Spam" folder where it deposits e-mail detected as spam. Block and Unblock buttons appear on the tool bar, and a configuration screen appears under Tools | Options | SpamNet. The program automatically detects when program updates are available and can update the program seamlessly.

Operation

SpamNet runs in the background, automatically checking e-mails that come into your Inbox and moving what it detects as spam to the Spam folder. You can also set it so that it only runs when you tell it to do so.

Since I've been using SpamNet with my Outlook 2000 application, I've been quite pleased. I receive 300 to 400 pieces of e-mail each day, a high proportion of which is spam. I used to spend precious time each morning deleting spam from my Inbox before I could identify, read, and answer pertinent e-mail. Now most of the spam, perhaps 80%, is automatically diverted to the Spam folder. I check the Spam folder every couple of days and clean it out. I've found that SpamNet's detection is pretty accurate. I have to unblock only about 1% of the e-mails in the Spam folder (false positives).

I haven't used the whitelist feature yet -- it's tedious to get to -- but if I find SpamNet consistently blocking e-mail I want to read, I can manually enter their return e-mail addresses on the whitelist and SpamNet will let them through in the future.

Problems

I haven't detected serious problems at this point. SpamNet's user forum registers some flames from users who complain that other SpamNet users are carelessly blocking legitimate opt-in e-mails they should have unsubscribed from. I'm told that frequent and careful blockers and unblockers are taken more seriously in the central database than occasional or careless blockers. The only change I'd suggest in SpamNet would be to provide a third button -- "Whitelist" -- that will unblock e-mails and place the return address on the whitelist automatically.

Pricing

A December 18, 2002 press release says:

"The beta version of SpamNet is available for free from the Cloudmark web site at www.cloudmark.com. This current version of SpamNet will remain free.... We will also be delivering a pay-for release 1.0 version after the first of the year. To enable even more people to take advantage of SpamNet, Cloudmark will deliver support for other popular mail clients in the coming year."

I don't know what price they'll set, but I feel SpamNet does a good enough job that I'm willing to pay something to get superior service. Not a lot, but something.

Bottom line? If your e-mail program is supported by Cloudmark SpamNet, you owe it to yourself to give it a try -- especially while the beta version is free. It works well.