--- In Anti-spam@yahoogroups.com, altabear <no_reply@...> wrote:
> Thanks Irish - I have looked at SpamCop - but haven't known anyone who's
> actually used it. I tried to see how they actually filter (like which
> appliance, etc.) but couldn't see anything like "how it works".

Spamcop.net is a reputable service. I've used their reporting part every now and
then, and they've been around for a while.

They use their own software, as far as I know. They also publish the blocklist
which is compiled from the spam they receive and users report.

The persons behind the service were (might still be, I haven't been following
them too carefully lately) active contributors in anti-spam community.


> I have
> heard that the Barracuda Spam Filter works quite well, so might prefer a
> service that uses it. The CudaMail service has 6 large ones I believe.
> Do you know if anyone else uses the Barracuda's?

I used to configure and manage a Barracuda for a customer. It is basically
SpamAssassin with some own rules and a user interface for dummies. Barracuda as
a device has a bad reputation within anti-spam community due to braindead
default settings, which generate spam to the internet (apparently the default
has been changed, after a few year of refusing to see the problem).

Another reason for the bad rep is the user interface: because it is ment for
dummies, quite often it is used by dummies who have no idea what they're doing,
thus creating problems for the rest of us.

If configured properly it is pretty good, but a lot depends on the
configuration.

> Postini is Google, so I'm not sure what they use.

As far as I know they use their own sw. They've been around for a while as well,
although previously as an independent company.

You can also use google for your e-mail, and the spam filtering is reasonable.
Many hosting providers provide spamassassin for filtering, which can work pretty
well.

I used to run my own SpamAssassin, and it was great on the filtering side, but a
bitch to maintain, since you'll have to maintain the whole linux system,
including MTA. Unfortunaty I don't have the time any more.

Currently I use SpamAssassin at my hosting provider, bluehost, and it works
pretty well, catching most of the spam. Secondary layer is provided by google
mail, and it catches most of the rest.

What is best for you? Well, hard to say. If you want to try out something else
than googlemail, I'd try out spamcop.net. If that doesn't cut the mustard,
postini and/or cudamail.

esa