Barracuda Networks Announces Microsoft Outlook Integration for Spam Firewall Solutions
New Outlook Toolbar Functionality Helps to Improve Barracuda Spam Firewall Filter Accuracy
CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 27, 2004--
Barracuda Networks, the leading provider of enterprise-class spam firewall solutions, today announced the immediate availability of a Microsoft Outlook plug-in that will seamlessly integrate with the Barracuda Spam Firewall 300, 400 and 600 models. With this latest upgrade, Barracuda Spam Firewall owners using Microsoft Outlook can help train the Bayesian filters to more accurately identify spam with a simple click of a button in the Outlook toolbar.
With success rates greater than 99 percent, Bayesian filtering is recognized by the industry as the most accurate method for blocking spam. To ensure the accuracy of these filters, the Bayesian filter should be trained to learn and recognize the email patterns of each user. The first layers of the Barracuda Spam Firewall effectively block the most obvious spam messages, however, more obscure spam requires additional computation in order to determine message legitimacy. This additional computation is achieved through Bayesian analysis.
The Barracuda Spam Firewall's Bayesian filters build and utilize unique databases based on the statistical frequency of word occurrence of each user's previous email activity. For instance, email messages containing the word "Viagra" would be considered spam by a majority of email users, however, a pharmacist or physician may still need to receive legitimate email containing this word. With the Barracuda Spam Firewall, the more frequently a user designates spam from legitimate email using the "spam" or "not spam" icons on the Outlook toolbar, the more accurately the Bayesian filter will determine which of the final few questionable emails should be allowed through to the user's inbox.
"Bayesian filtering is the most accurate of the ten defense layers utilized by the Barracuda Spam Firewall," said Dean Drako, president and CEO of Barracuda Networks. "The first layers of defense successfully eliminate the majority of spam, leaving only a small percentage of the most elusive spam to be filtered by Bayesian analysis. We are confident that the new Outlook plug-in will further the Barracuda Spam Firewall's effectiveness by allowing the user to train the Bayesian filter."
About the Barracuda Spam Firewall Family
The Barracuda Spam Firewall is available in four models and supports from 1,000 to 25,000 active users with no per user licensing fees. The Barracuda Spam Firewall can be installed in front of the email server in typically less than five minutes and is automatically updated hourly to block new forms of spam and viruses. Its architecture leverages open source spam and virus solutions in conjunction with ten defense layers: denial of service and security protection, IP block list, rate control, virus check with archive decompression, proprietary virus check, user specified rules, spam fingerprint check, intention analysis, spam rule-based scoring, and Bayesian analysis. This architecture minimizes the processing of each email, which yields the performance required to process millions of messages per day. Unlike software solutions, the Barracuda Spam Firewall reduces the load placed on the email server by off-loading both spam and virus filtering. Barracuda Networks also offers the Energize Update subscription service to automatically update the Barracuda Spam Firewall with the latest spam rules and virus definitions.
About Barracuda Networks
Barracuda Networks is a privately held company with headquarters in Cupertino, California. The company was founded on the premise that spam is growing at an exponential rate and poses a tremendous threat to every company's productivity, and the optimal answer is a dedicated plug and play hardware solution. Barracuda Networks provides an enterprise-class spam filter and virus protection solution that has the ease-of-use and affordability that businesses demand. More information is available at www.barracudanetworks.com.
Contacts
Barracuda Networks
Kylie Heintz, 408-342-5440
kheintz@barracudanetworks.com
Michael Perone, 408-342-5421
mperone@barracudanetworks.com
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