Spam and fraudulent e-mail messages are major issues for computer users and businesses of all sizes. Companies are being forced to commit significant resources to protect their messaging infrastructure and their brand from these abuses, and computer users must work to protect themselves from the influx of deceptive e-mail. Network infrastructure is being taxed. Spam was once just an annoyance, but it has now become the tactic of choice for online deception, fraud, and abuse.To help detect and prevent this onslaught of abuse and deception, Microsoft has developed a holistic strategy that includes industry collaboration, prescriptive education, and the development of innovative technologies and antispam services. These technologies are found in all Microsoft e-mail clients, servers, and services, including Windows Live Hotmail, Microsoft Office Outlook, Microsoft Exchange Server, and Microsoft Exchange Hosted Filtering.
Microsoft Exchange Hosted Filtering, formally FrontBridge Services, is an e-mail filtering service that stops spam and viruses before they reach the corporate network. A global, load-balanced network of data centers ensures reliable e-mail delivery even during the largest spam and virus attacks. A sophisticated, layered e-mail filtering approach improves employee productivity through high spam-capture rates with almost no false positives. Using a managed service model, Exchange Hosted Filtering reduces complexity in the IT environment, frees IT resources for more strategic corporate initiatives, allows for a predictable service payment regardless of increases in spam and virus activity, and eliminates the costs required to scale to increasingly severe messaging threats. Network performance and filtering accuracy are backed by a comprehensive set of service level agreements (SLAs).
To help reduce the negative impact of junk e-mail, Windows Live Hotmail uses SmartScreen technology to provide junk e-mail protection and help identify and separate junk e-mail from legitimate e-mail. The SmartScreen content filter learns from known spam threats and from information provided by Windows Live Hotmail customers who are part of the voluntary Feedback Loop Program (FBL).
The Exchange Server Intelligent Message Filter (IMF) is part of a comprehensive effort to enhance e-mail protection, security, hygiene, and productivity. IMF is designed to combat the influx of unsolicited commercial e-mail and to enable users to distinguish between legitimate e-mail messages and unsolicited spam. Based on SmartScreen technology, Exchange Server 2003 IMF provides server-side message filtering, heuristics-based message analysis, and support for per-message spam confidence level (SCL) ratings.
