As is the case with OnlyMyEmail, the Web-based VQme Anti Spam service protects a PC by insinuating itself between an email server and the end-user’s PC. That means the user must set up a user profile and a corresponding @vqme.com email address. The process was quite easy, as VQme handled the entire configuration on its own, automatically configuring Outlook Express with the correct incoming and outgoing mail servers, user name, and password.

You have to review the list of email addresses and specify which ones you wanted to include on the list of safe senders. It wasn’t difficult, but the utility could and should have handled easily.

Users of VQme Anti Spam discover that the program takes a unique approach to spam management. Its most radical feature is referred to as Personal Value Control. This is essentially a five-cent bond that VQme emailers promise to pay to individuals who receive spam from them. The idea is interesting and has potential in theory, but carries little practical value as it only works when both parties use VQme or a supporting ISP. The worst spam offenders are not likely to fit those criteria. Fortunately, the program’s other unique features offer much more value to the user.

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OnlyMyEmail is a Web-based service that operates in the cyberdistance between the email server and the PC. As such, it represents a contrasting paradigm to the desktop based anti-spam solutions provided by Computer Associates and SonicWALL. Both methods are effective at combating spam, but the processes involved are quite different.

Obtaining an account with OnlyMyEmail is as easy as clicking a few links, providing billing information, setting up a user name and password, and registering a current email address. This process results in a new OnlyMyEmail account. So far, so good. But then the user must reconfigure his existing email client for the OnlyMyEmail address and server. The user’s original email address remains the functional address, but incoming messages are filtered through the OnlyMyEmail account.

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SonicWALL Email Security Desktop has much in common with eTrust Anti-Spam. Like Anti-Spam, Email Security Desktop (formerly known as MailFrontier Desktop) is a rebranded product. And like eTrust Anti-Spam, it secures a system against spam by allowing messages from only those addresses that the user identifies in advance as legitimate. Both programs support POP and MAPI accounts through the Outlook and Outlook Express email clients only, and both are sold as one-year subscription services.

Anti-Spam and Email Security Desktop also boast similar features, including toolbar access, support for multiple accounts, and a challenge function, which allows the antispam utility to verify the identity of unrecognized senders by requesting that the senders respond correctly to a challenge question before the utility will forward their messages to the recipient

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Formerly known as Qurb, eTrust Anti-Spam simplifies the process of inbox protection by foregoing user-defined message filters in favor of automated safe-sender lists culled from the contents of Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express. To be precise, the utility grabs every email address it can find within these two Microsoft email clients and then grants clearance to any message sent from these addresses, these addresses are combined to make a whitelist.

The utility updates the list each time the user sends email to a new address, and the user can further refine the list by manually adding safe addresses to it or by plucking safe addresses from the folder of quarantined messages.

Anti-Spam creates its list of safe senders during the installation. At the same time, the utility inventories all of the messages, attachments, appointments, and contact information contained within Outlook and Outlook Express. The resulting index is used by Anti-Spam’s unique Email Search feature, a nifty extra that helps a user locate any piece of information contained within the email client.

Anti-Spam locked up Outlook when it initially attempted to build its index on the system. The problem was resolved by a reboot, too, as phone support is available only at the rate of $29.95 per incident (email support is free) again, but it got us off to a slow start.

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Symantec’s Norton Internet Security 2006 gives you the confidence to travel the Internet like never before. A comprehensive set of award-winning tools, Norton Internet Security automatically blocks hackers, viruses, and spyware. It filters out dangerous phishing email and annoying spam, while its powerful firewall gives you full control over incoming and outgoing Internet traffic. Privacy controls protect your personal information, and parental controls give you the power to block unsavory Web sites and shield your children from harm on the Internet. And should your operating system or browser have a security hole, Norton Internet Security is there to handle resulting attacks.

More powerful than ever, Norton Internet Security 2006 is also faster, smarter, and easier to use. With Norton Protection Center, a onelook control panel for all your security tools, you can review your security situation and lock down your system with an optimal security configuration. You can also run a system-wide security scan at any time with the click of a button. With all these tools working for you, you’re free to get connected, stay connected, and use the Internet however you want.

URL www.symantec.com

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