The tremendous increase in the volume of spam and email-borne threats over the past 12 months has made it necessary to find new methods for intercepting unwanted mail at the network entrance — reputation services are a critical part of this next generation of capabilities. Michael Osterman, Principal, Osterman Research

With spam and malware comprising the majority of all email, enterprises and service providers face bloated IT costs, and deterioration in the quality of service for valid traffic. Commtouch's GlobalView Mail Reputation Service fights unwanted mail at the perimeter, reducing over 80% of incoming messages at the entry-point, before these messages enter the network. Additionally, GlobalView can optimize traffic flow so that legitimate sources gain optimal access, while unauthorized sources attempting to abuse the network are blocked.

GlobalView differs from other similar-sounding services in terms of its unique breadth of coverage, and its analysis and delivery of information in real-time. Built on Commtouch's comprehensive view of global Internet traffic, GlobalView distinguishes in real-time between legitimate corporate senders, valid publishers, zombies, and spammers/malware distributors.

Commtouch's global detection centers analyze over one billion of messages per day, providing visibility into network traffic in every location, globally. This critical mass of data is analyzed using Commtouch's patented Recurrent Pattern Detection (RPD™) technology, enabling Commtouch to deliver real-time classification for each IP address. In real time, GlobalView determines if a particular address is sending spam and/or legitimate email, and if it has been compromised into a zombie. These capabilities enable the GlobalView service to block distributed zombie attacks the moment they start.

Benefits of GlobalView Mail Reputation Service include:

Increased sales opportunities Retained customers' loyalty by improving their service Improved sales margins Reduced overhead, enabling higher throughput for security systems Improved competition in your current market

Dynamic Data for Ever-Changing Landscape

Many public services deliver free information about blacklisted sources. Some services even enable setting central and personal policies for whitelisting during the SMTP session. However, these solutions are not designed to handle the ever-changing sender landscape, where zombies can be activated and de-activated at a moment's notice. Commtouch's global collection network analyzes over one billion messages every day. Included in this analysis is a process whereby Commtouch dynamically classifies and reclassifies the reputation of each source IP with a series of meaningful and measurable values that is constantly updated to include the most up-to-date information and reflect even the slightest change in credibility to meet the requirements of every messaging, security and networking vendor.

Commtouch GlobalView Mail Reputation classifies traffic in real time, based on these and other factors:

Statistical analysis of averages over time and recent changes of: mail volume spam ratio valid bulk ratio Real-time zombie/botnet detection Continuously refined composite RBL score Use of IP DNS and whois attributes such as: domain age, geography, known dynamic IP, and numerous other factors.

Decision Manager: Data Translated Into Action

The built-in Decision Manager module captures all of the inputs of the GlobalView service, combines it with data particular to the local implementation, and computes a recommended action using advanced flow control algorithms. In this way accurate blocking decisions can be made, keeping unwanted traffic out, and clearing the way for legitimate traffic.

Learn more about how the Commtouch GlobalView Mail Reputation Service works.