These add-ins, mostly for Microsoft Exchange Server, control the content of incoming and outgoing messages with a variety of techniques:
- Filtering attachments
- Filtering junk mail
- Filtering for objectionable content
Some are direct add-ins for Exchange Server; others operate externally on Internet mail going into and out of the server. Many combine content control with virus scanning, archiving and related functions.
The whole idea of monitoring e-mail for "objectionable" content makes me nervous. I think a clear, enforceable corporate e-mail policy and ongoing user education comprise the best approach to ensuring proper use of e-mail. However, the market apparently disagrees, or there wouldn’t be such a growing number of products in this area. On the other hand, filtering for obvious spam and undesired attachment types (like the .vbs files propagated by the ILOVEYOU virus), is a feature that every organization can put to good use.
The tools listed below are server tools; for personal junk mail filtering and content control, see Rules to filter junk mail – Other Tools.
Microsoft released its Microsoft Exchange Intelligent Message Filter for Exchange 2003 in May of 2004. Several vendors are planning products to complement Microsoft’s offering.
To add disclaimers to outgoing email, see Disclaimer and Signature Tools
Tools in the Spotlight
CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro goes beyond standard Hub Transport email rules on Microsoft Exchange 2007 or 2010 and lets you fully control email flow, filter messages and add signatures and branding to email. It is easier to use than Exchange native tools and it gives you everything Exchange offers, and also a lot of new features Exchange admins consider as a must-have. Quickly create group forward rules, auto-responders, filter messages, control email content, rewrite sender's addresses, tag messages, add signatures and disclaimers, and much more. | |
An electronic discovery tool specifically designed to perform dynamic keyword searches in Exchange mailboxes, PST files and common file storage areas. Discovery Attender can automatically execute scans of message subject, body and attachments through customizable search criteria. Content searches are transparent to end-users and can be targeted to specific groups or users. Once critical information is located, it can be moved or copied to a secure location. | |
Mail Attender provides comprehensive content management in PST files (personal storage folders) on desktops/servers, mailboxes and public folders. With MA Enterprise, administrators can distribute/enforce common policies, archive data and search content in multiple information stores from a central web interface. Also, can track statistical information such as total message/attachment count, size and type while tracking usage of individual users. Works with Exchange 5.5, 2000, 2003, 2007. | |
ORFEE supports filtering emails on arrival, which allows delivery path analysis, keyword and attachment filtering and Attachment and keyword filtering so you can drop emails with malicious attachments or replace the attachments with a customizable warning text. Both the keyword and the attachment filtering support using Perl-compatible regular expressions and are Unicode-aware. E-mails caught by the On Arrival filtering point can be dropped, redirected or tagged (header or subject). ORFEE includes a built-in log viewer which allows easy browsing, searching and filtering the logs. Exchange 2010 supported. |
Tools
This anti-virus tool for Exchange Server 5.0, 5.5, and 2000 allows you to delete quarantine attachments by name, type or wild card match and provides filtering by subject line, sender, and domain name filtering. | |
Use CodeTwo Attach Unblocker to configure Microsoft Outlook to allow the openig of the attachments blocked by default (for example, .exe, .url, .reg). The program is an Outlook extension; its settings are available at the property sheet in the Outlook options, which ensures quick and convenient editing. Supports all versions of Outlook, including Outlook 2010 64-bit | |
Enhancement for the same company's PowerTools product to add more robust anti-spam filtering by examining the entire structure of the message, not just keywords. | |
Data Publisher add-in provides a means to bring your Outlook contents such as mails, appointments, tasks or contacts to SharePoint lists, where these can be shared with other users. This process can be performed manually, or automatically and is achieved without using any scripts or programming, with complete seamless experience to the users. In other words, Data Publisher extends your Microsoft Outlook to effectively act as a content provider for your enterprise SharePoint repository. It can be adapted to feed data to SharePoint lists for various purposes, such as for issue tracking, timesheets, projects or contact managements. | |
MADSolutions Email Management Server 9 is an extremely powerful and flexible application allowing for granular content management of both attachments and messages stored in MAPI based information stores like Personal Folder Files (PSTs), Exchange Server Mailboxes and Exchange Server Public Folders. | |
Exclaimer Image Analyzer provides business owners with email image scanning functionality, ensuring no images of pornographic or inappropriate nature pass through the corporate email system. Exclaimer Image Analyzer works in conjunction with Active Directory through Exchange server 2007 and 2010. This means any email sent via Outlook, Outlook Express, Smartphones, PDAs and BlackBerrys are automatically scanned for inappropriate content. An initial audit period allows you to report on the level of imagery going through your corporate email system, categorizing them into ‘clean’ and ‘suspect’ using the reporting tools. | |
Anti-spam, disclaimers (with variables), archiving Internet mail, Internet mail usage reports. Includes a POP downloader and personalized server-based autoreplies that can include attachments and tracking numbers. Can archive to an ODBC database. Current version includes Overall improved anti-spam technology, an additional anti-spam engine called SpamRazer along with improved performance and a real-time dashboard. | |
Protects against email viruses and other threats with multiple virus engines, content and attachment quarantine, HTML script analysis, recognition of common HTML mail exploits, and other features. Uses the Exchange Virus Scanning API to check both internal and external messages. An available freeware version includes one anti-virus scanner and performs basic keyword content analysis. | |
Unique anti-spam approach that applies a trademarked and copyrighted haiku to outgoing mail headers to identify the message as non-spam. Provider promises vigorous prosecution of any spammer's use of the haiku as a trademark and copyright violation. See Embedding Habeas Headers in Outbound Mail with Microsoft Exchange Server for an Exchange 2000 event sink to add the header text to outgoing messages. | |
This update for Microsoft ISA Server adds support for two-factor RSA SecurID authentication for OWA and enforces 128-bit encrypted RPC for MAPI clients without a VPN. | |
M86 MailMarshal ECM (formerly M86 MailMarshal Exchange) is a flexible, scalable email policy management solution for Microsoft Exchange 2007 and 2010. Using deep content inspection technology, it simplifies compliance by ensuring inbound, outbound and internal email—including text, images and file attachments—adhere to data loss prevention and AUP requirements. Its scalability, centralized management and reporting, ease of deployment and minimal administration overhead make M86 MailMarshal ECM the most robust, yet cost effective internal email security solution available. | |
Performs anti-virus and content scanning of traffic between Exchange and the Internet. Can also perform automatic compression. | |
Secure appliance for your enterprise gateway. Email Gateway combines spam and fraud prevention, web filtering, virus and worm protection, policy and content compliance, email privacy, and secure email capabilities into a single platform. (Formerly IronMail) | |
Virus scanning, content filtering, and attachment filtering for Exchange Server. It can also scan Personal Folders and offline folders files. | |
MetaGuard ensures that your outbound file attachments are free of sensitive metadata. As you share more and more of your electronic documents, the risk of including or exposing important hidden client information becomes paramount. MetaGuard is an add-in tool for Microsoft Outlook designed to analyze document attachments looking for MetaData and providing a mechanism for cleaning the document. | |
Attachment and content filtering on internal and external mail, based on policies. Supports integration with various antivirus solutions. It simplifies content security, blocking viruses, inappropriate language, illegal files and confidential information as it moves through Exchange mail servers. | |
Nemx Power Tools Version 5.1 now includes the ability to selectively archive messages by user, group, domain, recipients, or content to a MSSQL or ODBC compliant database to ensure government, industry or corporate compliance. The release also includes enhancements to its Friendly Domains auto white listing capabilities. | |
Free Exchange 2000/2003 or Windows 2000/2003 SMTP event sink to check senders' mail server IP addresses against an open relay list. Supports SURBL and other RBL's, have scoring system, keyword check, black/whitelist etc. Version 4.1 | |
All the disclaimer and signature features of Policy Patrol Disclaimer, plus rules-based message and attachment filtering, spam blocking with real-time black lists, white lists, and other methods, anti-virus using the Kaspersky anti-virus engine, off-peak delivery of large messages, reports on sent and received messages and other management features, automatic printing, customized NDRs and DSNs, automatic conversion of messages to plain text, automatic compression and decompression, archiving to SQL, XML, or CSV. | |
Anti-spam using Bayesian filtering, header and keyword analysis (including regular expressions), real-time black lists, automatic white lists, checking for illegal HTML, remote images and more. Spam messages can be quarantined, deleted and can include a header or tag. Also offers integration with Exchange/Outlook 2003 anti-spam features (Spam Confidence Level). | |
Provides compression and decompression of email attachments at server level. Compression rules can be user-based and applied to incoming or outgoing mail, and internal or external messages. | |
On-demand solution that protects you from e-mail threats, archives and encrypts selected messages, and ensures that the web is used appropriately within your business. All without the need to install or maintain any software or appliances. | |
Message filtering tool for Exchange Server to block spam, proprietary information leaks and unacceptable language. Also can create automatic replies and perform rule-based archiving. | |
Sentris Protection is a classification labeling and validation service for Microsoft Exchange and Outlook. Sentris Protection adds its own toolbar to Microsoft Outlook that enables users to add portion markings as they compose e-mail messages, appointments, meeting requests, and tasks. It sets a message's minimum classification based on its portion markings and the marking of documents attached to the message and prompts the user to classify the message and enter information for the classification block and will only deliver the message to users who have appropriate access to the network and the facility. Sentris Protection also conducts a sensitive word search before each message is sent. | |
SMTPTracker extends your SMTP server with message tracking, content saving, sql logging and anti-spam abilities. SMTPTracker works with Microsoft SMTP service, Exchange Server 2000, Exchange Server 2003 and other systems based on IIS smtp service. SMTPTracker is a managed smtp event sink. Once it is installed and registered on server, it runs within inetinfo.exe process. SMTPTracker has two installation scenarios: it can be installed on front-end server (mail gateway) only, or on both front-end and back-end servers, when SCL Router Chaining feature is required. | |
Exchange 2000 or 2003 anti-spam tool using multiple approaches. Reports allow administrators to see which techniques are most effective and analyze the effect of making filters more or less aggressive. Online updates for both spam engine and filters. Group and individual overrides for mailboxes. | |
Exchange event sink that moves into a Spam folder in a user's mailbox any message that carries an X-header or subject line marking it as spam, as added by such tools as SpamAssassin. For Exchange 2007. Version available for Exchange 2000/2003 and for public folders. | |
Antivirus, antispam, and content filtering for Exchange 2000 mailboxes and public folders. Formerly Symantec AntiVirus/Filtering for Microsoft Exchange. | |
Team Publisher provides an easy way for work-group users to bring Outlook contents to SharePoint. It is just a click way to share and publish mails, appointments, tasks or contacts from Outlook to one or more of the administrator chosen SharePoint lists. This is achieved without using any scripts or programming, providing a seamless experience to the users. To be even more productive, publishing to SharePoint can be automated. In other words, Team Publisher extends your Outlook to feed data to SharePoint lists for various purposes, such as for email archiving, issue tracking, timesheets, and projects or contact managements. | |
Beginning with version 3.0, includes server-based email content filtering and spam-blocking capabilities, as well as virus scanning. | |
Email security software for Exchange featuring world-class antivirus, antispam, and a powerful, granular attachment filter. | |
Sits between Exchange Server and the Internet to scan messages for viruses, attachments and unwanted subject lines and add a disclaimer to outgoing messages. Also handles scheduled ETRN and statistics and can keep a copy of every message sent. Can detect attachments in rich-text messages, remove rich-text or HTML formatting, block messages in different languages, block spam based on a spam DNS database, |
More Information
- Anti-virus Tools — Some of these also include attachment filtering.
- Automatic Messaging Processing Tools
- Compression Tools
- Mail Tools
- XADM How to Filter Junk Mail in Exchange 2000
- Quarantining Malicious Outlook Attachments — procmail script fragment for blocking messages containing potentially dangerous attachments
- Using Real-Time Blackhole Lists For Filtering Email
- Server Based Antispam Comparison
Articles on using event sinks in Exchange 2000 to perform file scans and add disclaimers. Note the fine print — these techniques don’t work when Outlook is the client:
- HOW TO Register a Transport Event Sink for the SMTP Service in Exchange 2000 Server — sample checks for .vbs file attachments
- HOW TO Add a Disclaimer to Outgoing SMTP Messages in VB
- HOW TO Add a Disclaimer to Outgoing SMTP Messages in VBScript
- PRB SMTP Transport Event Does Not Fire For MAPI Messages
- Managing Spam
Exchange 2003 anti-spam features:
- Microsoft Introduces New Antispam, Antivirus Features In Exchange Server 2003
- RBL in Exchange 2003
Articles that may interest you:
Last reviewed on Apr 12, 2012
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