Spam Blocker

A Good Spam Blocker Can Save Your Sanity

As email has become more and more indispensable to our daily lives, the number of junk emails in our mailboxes has continued to grow.  This proliferation of spam has made life difficult for computer users, network administrators, security experts and even company presidents.

That is because spam is not only annoying, but it is costly as well. Spam is thought to cost companies millions of dollars a year in lost productivity, security threats and wasted storage space.  For all these reasons, a quality spam blocker can easily pay for itself in a very short period of time.

What to look for in a spam blocker
Perhaps the most important thing to look for in a spam blocker is reliability. It is vital that the spam blocker be able to filter out the vast majority of spam that people are receiving in their inboxes.  If you are looking for a business spam blocker, be sure to test several products and see how the work. Be sure that they work against spam that uses misspellings and other clever tricks (like Via*ra, etc.)  Spammers are becoming more and more sophisticated, and it is important that the spam blocker you choose be able to change and adapt to meet new challenges.

Of course it is just as important that the spam blocker not block legitimate emails.  It is important to test the spam blocker you are considering by sending legitimate emails which use frequently blocked words.  You certainly do not want to be responsible for blocking an email from the company president, even if it does contain suspect words.

The home spam blocker
Shopping for a spam blocker to use on your home PC is actually quite similar to looking for a business spam blocker.  The main difference is one of scale, and of price.  While a spam blocker designed for business use needs to be able to scan hundreds of thousands or even millions of emails, a home spam blocker can be a lot more modest.  The most important thing again is reliability, and the ability of the software to tell the difference between junk email and legitimate communication.

Each home user will need to determine if he or she needs a separate spam blocker for the PC.  Many email programs and internet service providers are building spam protection into their products, and this trend is likely to grow.  An additional spam filter, however, does provide an extra level of protection against unwanted email messages, and all the problems they bring with them.

One good reason to use a spam filter, even if your internet service provider already uses one, is to cut down on the chance of an email virus or worm infecting your system.  These days the majority of viruses come in the form of email, most often spam email.  Using a spam blocker will help provide additional peace of mind as you surf the internet.

No matter what type of spam blocker you choose for home or business use, it is important to review the logs it creates from time to time.  This is important, both to ensure that legitimate email is not being blocked and to make sure that the most egregious spam is being filtered out before it hits your inbox.