Businesses running Linux-based e-mail servers now have a free option for anti-spam protection thanks to Bucharest-based BitDefender.
The Romanian security vendor has been seeing some success with its free anti-virus software and decided to try a similar offering in its line of products for small and medium-sized businesses. Antispam for Linux Mail Servers is compatible with all major Linux distributions and offers easy installation, a Web-based or command-line interface, and e-mail (but not phone) support. It’s now available for free download on BitDefender’s Web site.
BitDefender felt the open source community didn’t have many good options when it came to anti-spam products, says Catalin Cosoi, head of online threats and antispam. So it decided to give it one.
“This will help a lot of people and show that a good antispam solution can help with their businesses,” he says. “We’re trying to focus on geeks. They are the trendsetters and they are using the best technology out there.”
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Geeks, or a small niche market, are actually going to be interested in using BitDefender’s free anti-spam product. Most e-mail servers are Windows-based machines, and other hosted services like Postiniare also rising in popularity amongst small shops, says James Quin, lead research analyst with Info-Tech Research Group.
“It’s going to be applicable to very small shops running open source software,” he says. “Most businesses are going to pay for a platform to do this.”
Spam, or unsolicited e-mail, is a big problem for business e-mail. Consumers have the benefit of a Web mail provider or Internet Service Provider that filter out most spam messages at the network level, before they ever receive their e-mail. But businesses must invest in a way to do that filtering, or else servers would awash in spam e-mails. Most security vendors peg spam at around 80 to 90 per cent of all e-mail sent.
BitDefender’s free product only filters out spam. It doesn’t have security features such as scanning of e-mail content and attachments.
“You can upgrade to use all the other features,” Cosoi says. BitDefender offers paid-for mail server products such as Security for Mail Servers and Business Security Suite.
With the free anti-spam product, you get what you pay for, Quin says.
“It’s pretty good in terms of capability and functionality, but it’s pretty limited,” he says. “It’s an unsolicited e-mail filter. That’s all it really does.”
Many other competing products on the market combine anti-spam with security features, the analyst adds. If a business were to use this product, they’d also need another piece of software to weed out viruses and malware. That means running two different consoles to manage configuration and updates, for one server.
BitDefender’s anti-spam technology has garnered nine award from Virus Bulletin, which conducts independent tests. The software promises an easy installation process. BitDefender says it’s offering the only free anti-spam offering in the Linux community.
“It’s free and it’s good and you should use it,” Cosoi says.
Users requiring support for the product can e-mail [email protected].
Brian Jackson is a Senior Writer at ITBusiness.ca. Follow him on Twitter, read his blog, and check out the IT Business Facebook Page.
