As we always tell our clients spam can not be stopped completely and nor will it be until the time comes when someone works out how to effectively police the internet, In our opinion, that time will never come.
There are hundreds of different kinds of spam protection programs available, we would like to discuss a few here with you and the problems each one presents so that you understand more clearly why we recommend the program we do.
Email Client/Programmes White List Add-ons
Other popular programs plug into Outlook and other programmes to add a white list to the program. Any email that comes in that is not on your white list is put into a junk folder for later review.
You should immediately see the issue with that. At some point, you have to trawl through that junk folder, marking what is legitimate mail and what is spam. You may as well just not bother and sort through it as it comes in. These programs can also mess with your outlook settings and, even when uninstalled, leave you with issues with checking your mail.
Spam Filtering With Rules
Some bigger spam solutions use what is called boolean or heuristic filtering. Put simply, these are complicated sets of rules that apply a spam count to incoming mail to try to determine what is spam and what isn't.
These programs work mainly on the content of the emails and word filters. The problem with this is that they can make mistakes. If, for example, a newsletter you signed up for sends you a newsletter containing the words “Special Offer” at the end of the email. The program could think this is spam and dump it. That means you do not get the newsletter you enjoy each month.
So What Is The Best Solution?
The real solution to spam is being able to sort it out quickly but not block it, that is the only way to ensure you do not miss legitimate emails.
The program we recommend does just that. For full details on how we recommend dealing with spam click here.
