SurfControl
SurfControl is the second of two applications tested here that vendors tout as being "smart", and certainly the SurfControl application includes some fairly hefty weaponry in the name of defending the mailboxes. As we found with both "smart" applications, sometimes they were slightly too smart for their own good. While adequately filtering most spam messages, they tended to pick up a fair few legitimate e-mails and legitimate newsletters which impacted on the overall score. Total score is still a respectable 930 points.
With both "smart" applications, it would be interesting to see over a longer period if their learning capabilities improved their accuracy.
It should also be noted here that since we published the overview article on mail filtering in July, SurfControl has adjusted its pricing and is now within the same ballpark as many of the other players in this field.
SurfControl has a very good management window, similar to the NetIQ and GFI offerings. SurfControl has separate management and admin consoles, one for reviewing blocked messages and the other for configuring the rules.
Interestingly, the rules can be managed in a specific operator set sequence. For example, the language or header/image rules can be applied before the more encompassing spam rules, thereby allowing better filtering to different categories without the chance of missing more general spam messages.
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| Product: | SurfControl |
| Price: | From $13.30 to $57 per mailbox depending on user count |
| Vendor: | SurfControl |
| Phone: | 02 9414 0000 |
| Web: | www.surfcontrol.com |
| Interoperability: |
Supports Windows 2000 with any SMTP mail server. |
| Futureproofing: |
½
Spam collection as tested was very good but false positives bring the overall score down. |
| ROI: |
New pricing structure is far better than the original. |
| Service: |
½Additional contract available. |
| Rating: |
½ |
I am interested in knowing how the market is for spam filters in Australia, I work for FrontBridge Technologies (in Marina Del Rey, California, U.S.A.) and I recently followed up on an inquiry on us from a Sydney based company. As we spoke they mentioned that there are no perimeter based solutions doing business in Australia like ours.
Just curious and thought the author of this article might like to discuss.