Comments on: Network Security Podcast, Episode 71 http://www.mckeay.net/2007/07/31/network-security-podcast-episode-71/ The views of one man on security, privacy and anything else that catches his attention Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:55:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: jbl http://www.mckeay.net/2007/07/31/network-security-podcast-episode-71/#comment-944 jbl Thu, 02 Aug 2007 09:09:57 +0000 http://www.mckeay.net/2007/07/31/network-security-podcast-episode-71/#comment-944 I looked at my gmail tonight. I don't use it for correspondence at present, but it's my contact for almost all my on-line shopping, banking, or register-to-comment activities, because its spam filtering has been good. I get very little spam past the filters. I currently show 848 spams in the junk folder, which I guess is about a months' worth. I have long since given up looking through spam folders for false positives because there's just too much. But in response to Podcast 71, I looked at the newest 400 of the 848 (all I could stand to scan through). I found one false positive, a mail-list newsletter type message. Not bad. I didn't notice its absence because I don't follow that newsletter religiously. On my two main mail accounts, which are ISP hosted and which I access via POP/SMTP (using Forte Agent client software): on the first I get about 800-1000 spams/month. I filter by eye (most of the real mail is diverted to other folders before I look at it, so it's quick) and the only "false positives" are the occasional few I miss in the pile. The same is true for another account, though I see closer to 400/month. In both cases, the ISPs also provide aggressive spam filtering, and there I have no idea what the statistics are; again, too much spam to look through and I hate web mail interfaces (which I need to use to look at the ISP-filtered spam). Two other ISPs I get some mail on have much lower numbers of spam messages, but so far gmail is the lowest -- if one per week gets by the spam filters that's a lot. So I would say that gmail's spam filter is the best I've seen so far. Regards / JBL I looked at my gmail tonight. I don’t use it for correspondence at present, but it’s my contact for almost all my on-line shopping, banking, or register-to-comment activities, because its spam filtering has been good.

I get very little spam past the filters. I currently show 848 spams in the junk folder, which I guess is about a months’ worth. I have long since given up looking through spam folders for false positives because there’s just too much. But in response to Podcast 71, I looked at the newest 400 of the 848 (all I could stand to scan through). I found one false positive, a mail-list newsletter type message. Not bad. I didn’t notice its absence because I don’t follow that newsletter religiously.

On my two main mail accounts, which are ISP hosted and which I access via POP/SMTP (using Forte Agent client software): on the first I get about 800-1000 spams/month. I filter by eye (most of the real mail is diverted to other folders before I look at it, so it’s quick) and the only “false positives” are the occasional few I miss in the pile. The same is true for another account, though I see closer to 400/month. In both cases, the ISPs also provide aggressive spam filtering, and there I have no idea what the statistics are; again, too much spam to look through and I hate web mail interfaces (which I need to use to look at the ISP-filtered spam).

Two other ISPs I get some mail on have much lower numbers of spam messages, but so far gmail is the lowest — if one per week gets by the spam filters that’s a lot. So I would say that gmail’s spam filter is the best I’ve seen so far.

Regards / JBL

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