Anti Spam Software - Do You Really Need It?

If you are a frequent user of the internet then you must have been affected at some point by a spam. A spam is any form of unsolicited information that may be in the form of a email, messaging, newsgroup, forum, blogs and mobile phone text messaging.

Spams can lead to loss of productive time and this costs money. Internet Providers have felt the brunt of this nuisance and have expended time and money to mitigate if not resolved this problem.

There are several techniques that have been applied in reducing the effects of spam by the email administrators. These include the embedding of software in the product, thus reducing some of the stress on the users.

More anti spam software has now been made available to users of the internet. One such anti spam software is the Spam Killer from McAfee. McAfee boast of the ability to block spam from infiltrating users' inbox with advance ruled-based and list-based filtering.

Then there is Mailwasher by FireTrust. Their claim is that user can relax as they guarantee 100% risk free policy. Not only will FireTrust provide their user with a 30 day free trial, their software also offers complete anti spam capabilities in one application, ease of use and, compatibility with every email programs, are some of the distinguishing features of this software.

Spamfighter has several features that separate it from other Anti spam software, for example it supports many different languages, it protects all the email account on the users PC, it has automatic "Real Mail" protection and it can also recognize spam sent as a picture. However it doesn't stop the junk mail from infiltrating your inbox.

The Spambully software works well with outlook, Outlook Express and Windows mail. Possessing features such as Bayesian spam filter, auto-delete, cell phone forwarding and it uses very little space, only 4.5mb.

There are several other products on the market that serves the purpose of protecting users from spams. Software such as Choice Mail, Spam Eater, iHate Spam and CA Anti Spam Plus, CA Website Inspector.

These products range from a high of US$70 to a low of US $30. No matter the cost if you intend to continue to using the internet an investment in such software can never be overemphasized. Spammers are out there conjuring up new ways and means to infiltrate our space on the World Wide Web, whether it is in the name of marketing or for malicious intension.

By: Efti Babu