InfoWorld : Test Center: E-mail security services square off

InfoWorld tested 6 Hosted filtering vendors; Microsoft came in second in this test with a score of 8.6:

… From spam-busting to content management, we test the limits of hosted e-mail security offerings from AppRiver, MessageLabs, Microsoft, MX Logic, SECNAP, and Trend Micro

E-mail is the primary conduit of information for many organizations, both internally and with the outside world. Unfortunately, e-mail is also a prime channel for annoyances such as spam, as well as security threats in the form of viruses, spyware, phishing attacks, and more. Some companies choose to defend their e-mail systems in-house by deploying e-mail security products. Others, however, look to outside assistance in the form of hosted e-mail security services.

As a follow-up to my review of nine e-mail security appliances, I looked at six hosted e-mail security solutions from AppRiver, MessageLabs (now owned by Symantec), Microsoft, MX Logic, SECNAP Network Security, and Trend Micro. Postini (now owned by Google), another major player in the hosted e-mail security space, declined to participate …

Interesting Google did not participate …

Very good result for Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services :

clip_image001Formerly Frontbridge (long a leader in anti-spam services), Exchange Hosted Filtering Services (EHFS) is available in typical Microsoft fashion: The service offers great features, including anti-virus, using multiple engines, encryption, and disaster recovery. It’s adept at stopping spam, preventing 97.5 percent of unwanted messages from coming through, while stumbling on 11 false positives and one critical false positive (see test results). Moreover, it’s easy to set up, manage, and use — especially with Windows-based e-mail systems. On the other hand, pricing is hard to nail down, though large customers get great price breaks. Also, as one might expect from Microsoft, using the service with the Firefox 3.0 browser did not work well, although Firefox 2.0 was OK.

Source : InfoWorld.com