As spam continues to flood our email accounts and threaten the security of our computers, anti-spam software has become critical for users on both a personal and corporate level. Before looking into the features of what makes a quality program, let us first give you a brief recap regarding spam. To keep things brief, spam is the sending of unsolicited or unwanted email, whether it is targeted at a single recipient or by way of mass distribution. Spam is often referred to as unsolicited bulk email, bulk email, spam mail or simply junk mail.
How spam bogs down your productivity
The introduction of email has made way for an era that enables us to make use of instant communication, effectively working from home making business transactions across the world at very little cost. Those very benefits have prompted the frequent abuse of email spam. Many ambitious, yet impatient, online business owners have taken this opportunity to distribute mass mailings advertising their products and services at the best price available. To the current day, it is reported that nearly 11 out of 13 of all emails we receive are actually spam messages, even when they are sent in good will. This is the very reason why anti-spam software has become a must-have for most internet users.
Utilizing anti-spam software
The purpose of an anti-spam program is to detect the unsolicited mail before it reaches a user’s inbox. This software goes by many names, though most of them actually serve a similar purpose. When in search of the right product, you may see titles such as spam filters and spam blockers, among several others.
An anti-spam solution is simple to install onto your computer. The process typically consists of a simple download or the quick installation from a CD. If the program is properly integrated with your email server, it will work wonders when it comes to detecting and reducing the amount of spam you receive. The actual filtering process can be configured according to specific criteria. This may include certain words in the subject field, text found in the body of an email, or any attachments that happen to accompany the email. The program can also be configured to filter out a sender’s email domain. Some anti-spam solutions are even able to detect and block infamous spammers that have been previously blacklisted by other internet service providers.