E-Mail Protection: Outside The Box

There are three broad approaches to e-mail security. One is to put anti-spam and anti-virus systems on your desktop computers. The second option involves "gatekeeper" software that operates on a central computer in your office, and checks incoming mail as it arrives. Finally, managed services can intercept and check the e-mail out before it a reaches you.

Astaro just released the latest version of its Security Gateway, aimed at small business owners. It is available either as a pre-packaged hardware appliance with the software running inside a sealed, dedicated box or as a software application installed on a company's central computer.

The Astaro system includes e-mail encryption at the gateway, so users can send mail to each other across the Internet without having to encrypt it in their e-mail program. In addition to scanning e-mail for viruses and spam, it has an auto-quarantine function to isolate file types such as audio, video or executable programs.