Exchange Compatible Spam Filters?

DamienMcKenna asks: "At work our license for Symantec Brightmail is coming up for renewal and I'm looking for alternatives that will cooperate with Microsoft Exchange 2003. Brightmail hasn't worked consistently since we installed it last year, has a low success rate, the client plugin has been very unstable, and it takes up far too much server resources for what it does. Given that many of the appropriate software is not available for trial (you have to base decisions off their marketing materials), does anyone have recommendations on what to use instead? It must be Windows-based (UNIX/Linux/BSD is out of the question right now), and should have an easy to use administrative interface since not all of the IT staff are very technically minded. A working plugin for Outlook for client-level configuration would also be appreciated."

Non-Windows doesn't mean you can't use Exchange...

[dn15]

While you said it should be Windows-based, I wanted to make sure you are aware that you *can* have a Linux/BSD/Mac server filter spam and keep your Exchange server. It would just be a gateway that receives your mail, runs filters, and then sends the messages along to your Exchange server. Just something to think about. It would also mean your filters would not break as you upgrade your software, since it would be a separate machine from the one that runs Exchange.

Re:"Not technically minded?"

[crerwin]

Some organizations may not be able to pay the salaries that highly qualified IT people are looking for. This particularly happens with such places as school districts, which is unfortunate because school district networks usually have more malicious users than traditional corporate networks. School districts are also often forced to use Exchange/AD setups by less knowledgeable school boards. Not that this combination is unworkable, it just sometimes requires more babysitting and trouble spotting than more inherently secure infrastructures.

Whether the submitter is working for a school district or not, it does not help to berate his/her IT team. Perhaps they work for a non-profit organization working towards the greater good with a need for IT but without a budget to support it. Don't get me wrong, you make a valid point, but not a helpful one. Their spam filter situation can be changed, so let's focus on that.

Re:"Not technically minded?"

[GigsVT]

Don't you know the custom here? If you don't know the answer to a question, you attack the person asking it, or point out why they need to change their situation entirely to change the question into one you know the answer to. :)