Spam control continues to be a major issue for IT departments, and a variety of anti-spam solutions compete for market share. This Ferris report reviews the evolution and current status of spam technologies and describes the key attributes that a robust spam control product should provide. The report also explores whether spam control solutions have indeed become price-based commodities or whether they still have important differences in technique and effectiveness.

Report 668.

Important Questions Addressed by This Report Include:

• Is spam control a commodity, or do products have competitive differences?
• How have spam control solutions evolved over the past few years?
• What are the main categories of anti-spam technologies?
• How should spam control be implemented?

Who Is This Report Suitable For?

This report is suitable for all levels of IT and vendor product management staff.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary
    Key Findings
Threat Landscape of Spam
    Image Spam Is the Latest Threat
Spam Control Techniques
    Content Analysis
    Behavior Analysis
    Reputation Analysis
    Sender Authentication
    Challenge/Response Systems
Key Implementation Issues
    Internal Product Architectures
    Sensitivity to False Positives
    Spam Control Is Best at the Perimeter
    Issues With Client-Based Spam Control
    Benefits of a Single-Vendor Solution
Spam Control Is Not a Commodity
    Spam Catch and False Positive Rates Matter
    Market Consolidation Doesn’t Entail Commodity Status
    Pricing Is Not the Only Evaluation Criterion
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