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Compatible with all hardware and architecture
Faq
General points
Basic questions
Practical questions
General points
- Why is MailInBlack more effective than ordinary anti-spam systems?
For the following reasons:
- It's the first solution to guarantee the 100% elimination of spam
- No message from human sender is stopped by mistake
- No work is required on the part of the user/administrator after set-up.
Based on the generic rules of message content filtering, ordinary anti-spam systems present the following major limitations:
- They cannot guarantee the elimination of 100% of spam as spammers are permanently finding ways to get round the filtering rules set up (for example, image spam)
- They block valid, uncertain or equivocal messages by mistake because of the filtering rules (false positive). Hence, the system requests that you regularly check that no messages have been blocked in the anti-spam box by mistake. This leads to a loss of time equivalent to receiving spam and sorting through messages.
- They require permanent work to keep the filtering rules evolving (the identification of spam, the creation of rules by key words in the content or object of the message, e-mail addresses to authorize or ban). This leads to another considerable loss of time in the long run.
MailInBlack's mission is to gain time for the protected user and the mailbox administrator. Consequently, contrary to ordinary filtering systems, MailInBlack imposes no settings for filters, sorting, spam declaration, control, deleting... all synonymous with wasted time.
Once MailInBlack has been set up, the user and the administrator will benefit from maximum saved time.
To reveal the failings of a rival solution for ordinary filtering, simply ask the salesperson for written commitment on :
- the percentage of spam stopped
- the percentage of false positive
- the weekly number of hours of administration
return to questions
- How does MailInBlack work ?
When an e-mail is addressed to a protected user, it arrives on the MailInBlack server.
First of all, MailInBlack analyses whether the e-mail has a virus. If it does, the virus is destroyed and the message stopped
MailInBlack then checks whether the sender is authorized to send a message to this user :
- If he is in the authorized address book, the e-mail is transmitted to the mailbox server e
- If he has been banned, the e-mail is stopped.
- If he is writing for the first time, MailInBlack asks him to authenticate himself by sending back an e-mail.
- If the checking procedure is correctly carried out by the sender, the mail is dispatched to the mailbox server. If not, the message is placed on a waiting list. This list is accessible at any time on the MailInBlack server. In addition, every user receives a regular and personal interactive report of stopped e-mails (A Digest). The user may change the settings for the receipt of this interactive Digest: one to three times a day at times fitted to suit, once a week on the day and at the time chosen, or alternatively it can be deactivated.
return to questionsBasic questions
- Will all correspondents have to authenticate themselves?
Because spam is such a scourge nowadays, all senders who write to a user for the first time will have to authenticate themselves. If you have taken the trouble to personalize the authentication request with a logo, they will do it all the more naturally. In addition it is possible to pre-authorize your usual company contacts. In this way, only your new correspondents will receive an authentication request after sending their very first message.
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- How can I recover a newsletter, an order confirmation via internet or a message from a correspondent who went on holiday before authenticating himself?
One to three times a day, (individually parameterizable) the system sends a recapitulative report by e-mail to every user, detailing the messages stopped. If a user is expecting a particular message such as a newsletter, with a simple click he will be able to either recover this message from the sender immediately or recover it and at the same time authorize the sender's address in order to receive all future messages. In the case of an emergency, a user can also go onto the secured Member Space and visualize stopped messages in real time. The latter are stored for 45 days (duration settings can be parameterized by the administrator) with MIB-Pro and for 30 days with MIB-Asp, before being automatically destroyed.
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- Is MailInBlack compatible with all messaging systems, architecture and hardware?
Yes. MailInBlack being an smtp appliance receiving all the company's flow of messages, the system is compatible with any messaging server and any architecture or hardware (laptop, PDA, Blackberry, etc) used down the line.
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- Does MailInBlack protect against viruses?
Yes. Against all the viruses known to be contained in e-mails (up-dates every hour). MailInBlack has signed a partnership agreement with BitDefender, a company which protects over 120 million users in over 100 countries. This anti-virus for in-coming mail (ranked best anti-virus by Ordinateur Individuel in May 2007) is provided free of charge.
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- Does MailInBlack protect against spam that uses address usurpation?
Yes. Spam which is circulated with usurped addresses is the result of spyware. This spyware is « transported » in the created e-mail in order to contaminate the recipient's computer and hence to endlessly propagate the spam. (The economic model of spammers being to reach the biggest number of people possible so that some of them buy their products). MailInBlack's anti-virus stops spyware, without worrying about whether the sender is authorized or not.
In the exceptional case where an e-mail with a usurped address is sent without a virus, the chances of this message reaching its recipient are tiny: as MailInBlack is based on a principle of partner authentication, the spammers would have to find out who was authorized by whom. As explained above, the economic model of spammers is to reach the largest number of people without spending any money. They cannot afford to spend time searching for partner authentication. Thus, there is no point spamming a single address.
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- Does MailInBlack process out-going messages?
No. The job of the MailInBlack appliance is to stop in-coming spam.
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- For how long are stopped e-mails stored?
Stopped e-mails are kept on the MailInBlack server for up to 45 parametrizable days with MIB-Pro and 30 days with MIB-Asp. Then they self-destruct. No-one has to waste time deleting them.
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- What can be found in the Member Space?
Each protected user has access to a secure Member Space by a password. There, depending on the wishes of the company, he will find: authorized senders; banned senders (those who have taken the trouble to authenticate themselves, but from whom the recipient does not wish to receive future e-mails) and quarantine for stopped e-mails.
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- Is MailInBlack compatible with distribution lists?
Yes. It is necessary simply to pre-authorize the e-mail address of the distribution list.
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- Is MailInBlack compatible with aliases?
Yes. MailInBlack accepts up to 6 aliases per user, for the price of just one licence.
retour aux questions
- Does MailInBlack delay the receipt of e-mails?
No. After receipt of the messages by the MailInBlack appliance, less than half a minute is necessary to process them (anti-virus and anti-spam) and dispatch them if the sender is authenticated.
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- How can I test how the MailInBlack solution works?
If, in spite of the conclusive conceptual and technical analyses for MailInBlack, you wish to reassure yourself with a test, we propose a "Try and Buy": this will enable you to carry out the usual set-up of MailInBlack ASP or PRO and test the solution free of charge for 3 weeks. At the end of this period, you can keep the solution or cancel free of charge. Please contact a salesperson to set up a "Try and Buy".
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Practical questions
- How can I gain access to Subscribers' Space?
Using an internet browser, type the address of the MailInBlack appliance and then enter your e-mail address and your password. If the person has not disconnected himself, he will immediately enter his Member Space without having to enter his identification again.
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- Can I pre-authorize regular correspondents?
Yes. It is advisable to do this before commissioning as only the people who regularly write to your colleagues may be surprised by an authentication request. The administrator or users can pre-authorize the domain names or the e-mail addresses comprehensively or one by one. In this way, these people will not have to identify themselves.
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- How can I immediately recover an e-mail stopped by MailInBlack?
Go onto your Member Space and click on the e-mails stopped over the last 30 days. Select the e-mail concerned and click on Recover or Authorize. For your information, those e-mails which have been stopped since your last visit to the page will appear in bold.
return to questions
- Can I personalize the authentication request?
Yes.It is advisable to do this before commissioning, notably with a logo. This image appears not only in the authentication request sent to unknown senders, but also on the web page where unknown senders will authenticate themselves. The personalization can be done in a uniform manner for all the users from the same domain, or individually.
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- How can I visualize the authentication request sent to unknown senders?
Go to the Member Space of the domain manager and click on Parameters, Personalization of the message and then: (see this message).
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- In what language is the authentication request sent?
The authentication message sent by MailInBlack to unknown senders is in two languages which you may choose among English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. In order to parameterize this, go to your Member Space, click on Parameters then Personalization of the Message. The personalization can be done in a uniform manner for all the users from the same domain, or individually.
return to questions
- Must the spam stopped by MailInBlack be deleted?
No.Spam is stopped on the MailInBlack server before it reaches your mailbox server, and self-destructs at the end of the quarantine period. Hence you do not see it appear on the user work stations and no-one has to make any kind of intervention! This is one of MailInBlack's assets: maximum time gained both for the end user and the administrator.
return to questions
- Can a person who has authenticated himself be banned from sending further messages?
Yes. Every user (for his own account) or the administrator (for all the accounts) can ban a person who has authenticated himself if it is someone from whom you no longer wish to receive messages.
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- How can I ban spammers' e-mail addresses?
No need to: spam is stopped on the MailInBlack server before it reaches your mailbox server and self-destructs at the end of the quarantine period. (Parametrizable up to 45 days). Hence you do not see it appear on the user work stations and no-one has to make any kind of intervention! Banning addresses would be a sheer waste of time and would serve no purpose as spammers are constantly changing their sender address.
With MailInBlack, the notion of "Banning" a sender is only necessary when a sender has taken the trouble to authenticate himself, yet it is someone from whom you no longer wish to receive messages. For this, every user (for his own account) or the administrator (for all the accounts) can go onto his Member Space and ban the authenticated sender.
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