ISPA spam watch-list integrated with Pinpoint SecureMail

South Africa's locally developed open source-based e-mail protection software, Pinpoint SecureMail, is now integrated in real-time with the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) Hall of Shame anti-spam watch-list.

According to Yossi Hasson, managing director of Pinpoint SecureMail development company SYNAQ, this means all companies - and the domains from which they send unsolicited bulk e-mails - listed on the ISPA spam Hall of Shame are immediately given an extra weighting on SYNAQ's spam algorithms and are quarantined.

The Hall of Shame report is compiled by ISPA to assist South African companies and consumers to effectively manage local unsolicited bulk e-mail, which ISPA defines as spam.

“By integrating Pinpoint SecureMail with the ISPA list, SYNAQ is better able to protect our clients from being bombarded by South African 'marketing' companies that are not following the ECT or Consumer Protection Act, and are sending spam instead of conducting legitimate marketing campaigns,” Hasson says.

In the first three weeks following the ISPA Hall of Shame integration into Pinpoint SecureMail, SYNAQ identified and blocked 146 926 spam messages sent out by companies included in the list.

The ISPA Hall of Shame integration into Pinpoint SecureMail follows SYNAQ's recent development of South Africa's first local phishing database, which is designed to prevent phishing mails purporting to come from South Africa's major financial institutions from reaching the mailboxes of recipients.