Several South African Internet service providers (ISP) are reported to be piloting Brightmail`s anti-spam software and methodology in a bid to stop unsolicited marketing e-mails.
Networks Unlimited, the SA distributor for Brightmail says it is currently piloting a number of sites for ISPs that are trying to find a way to counter the ever-growing nuisance of spam. Securicom, a SA firm that specialises in software security, is partnering Networks Unlimited with the pilot sites.
Craig Copeland, a director of Networks Unlimited says the first ISPs using the Brightmail system should be finalised in March and until then he cannot name the clients.
"South African ISPs have become extremely serious about countering spam and they realise the higher up the chain they are able to counter it, the better," he says.
Copeland says a number of large corporations have approached Networks Unlimited to install Brightmail, but that his company`s first priority is with the ISPs.
Philip Arnold of Securicom says spam is costing SA corporations dearly in terms of bandwidth use, and that once an effective anti-spam system is in place, a saving of up to 30% could easily be realised.
"Also of concern to corporations is that their own employees have sued them for being exposed to spam and so there is an even greater sense of urgency to do something about it," he says.
According to Arnold and Copeland, most of the spam is generated from the US and the market for generating spam now turns over about $7.2 billion in revenue per year, despite anti-spam laws in the US and Europe.
"There is no doubt that if spam continues to grow then e-mail will die as a method of communication," Arnold says.
Brightmail has partnered with Microsoft and antivirus vendor Symantec. The Brightmail system uses some two million "honeypots" - false e-mail addresses that gather spam, analyse it and then update their clients` filters on an hourly basis.
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