For those of you who are still using spam email blockers such as Spam Assassin and find it insufficient for your spam blocking needs, I suggest you look into the open-source project ASSP (http://assp.sourceforge.net/) to find the spam-blocking power you need. ASSP is completely free, easy to use, and extremely powerful. ASSP uses a plethora of advanced features such as Bayesian analysis, Penalty-Box trapping, Real time black-hole listing, and a multi-level Sender policy framework. While this may all sound very complicated to the average person just trying to get rid of some spam, it all boils down to the result that ASSP is a superior solution when it comes to eliminating spam. Lets take a further look at ASSP and see how it truly separates itself from the traditional Spam-blocking software.
First and foremost, ASSP is completely free and is a commercial grade anti-spam software and boasts features that paid anti-spam software find hard to match. The most unique feature that ASSP has is that it stops spam at the SMTP level rather than using rules later on to determine if the e-mail is legit or not. Since bounced email, after it gets through the SMTP server, will cost you in bandwidth and storage, this method that ASSP implements could save your organization a lot of money. ASSP even has an early sender validation feature that stops e-mail before it even comes in contact with the server, saving you even more. Furthermore, the Bayesian filter is pretty good at regulating itself so it will save you a lot of work in configuring the e-mail filters. You may still have to spend some time reading and re-combining the spam logs, but that is far less time than setting up all the rules step-by-step. ASSP also has an automatic white list feature that is highly touted among users. This feature automatically white lists any e-mail address that you send email to. This ensures important replies from people are not accidentally bounced into the spam category. People have claimed that this feature has saved them a lot of headaches. If you are a one-way sender, ASSP also has a redlist that prevents any e-mail address listed on there from going on the white list. This is quite useful if your sending bulk-mail within your organization and you don’t always want replies. ASSP also has the ability to block spam-bombs from people who forge your email in the domain field. These tools make ASSP far more efficient and flexible than other spam blockers such as the popular Spam Assassin.
With all the features and early blocking that ASSP has, you may wonder if ASSP is more likely to block mail that isn’t really spam. ASSP has tools for that also. ASSP has the ability to forward you a copy of all rejected e-mail address so you can check to see if any non-spam address has been blocked ASSP also shows spam flow statistics and an advanced analysis of all spam that has been blocked so you can have a detailed idea of how much spam is being blocked on a daily basis. With these features, you are ensured to have a way to monitor spam trends and spot potential non-spam email that has been blocked.
With all the features listed above plus abundant community support and documentation, there is no reason not to give ASSP a try for your spam-blocking needs.