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Commtouch Spam Booster
From UntangleWiki
 Commtouch Spam Booster
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About Commtouch Spam Booster
Commtouch Spam Booster is an add-on product that works in conjunction with Untangle's Spam Blocker to increase its effectiveness. It is not a replacement for Spam Blocker. If you intend to use Commtouch Spam Booster, you must use Spam Blocker as well. It is designed to detect and process spam that comes in text files as well as graphics files, and it is not limited by language. It will serve you whether your spam comes in English, Spanish, or Cyrillic.
Settings
There are no user-configurable settings for Commtouch Spam Booster: it simply works! You may adjust thresholds and spam handling characteristics in Spam Blocker, but Commtouch Spam Booster does not require any user intervention.
Event Log
There isn't one!
Related Topics
Commtouch Spam Booster FAQs
Is this an open source product?
No. It is a premium product.
How does it work?
Commtouch Spam Booster installs as a plug-in to Spam Blocker. As Spam Blocker processes messages for spam, it will also send most of the messages to the Commtouch Spam Booster plug-in. Commtouch will then check the message against its internet-based spam database, and a test result is returned to Spam Blocker. Based on this result, messages that may have been passed by Spam Blocker may be reclassified as spam, and will be handled according to your Spam Blocker configuration. In addition, messages that may have been incorrectly categorized as spam by Spam Blocker (false positives) will now be passed through.
Not all messages are sent to Commtouch Spam Booster for further processing. Messages that are obviously spam do not require further processing. This is the only type of message that would be processed only by Spam Blocker.
Is there a specific order in which Spam Blocker and Commtouch Spam Booster must be installed?
No. You may install Spam Blocker, then Commtouch Spam Booster, or you may install both at the same time by installing just Commtouch Spam Booster. Commtouch Spam Booster will automatically install Spam Blocker if it is not already installed.
Does Spam Blocker still work if Commtouch Spam Booster is turned off?
Yes, but it does not gain the added effectiveness that Commtouch Spam Booster provides.
I uninstalled Spam Booster by accident. Does that cause problems with Spam Blocker?
No. Spam Blocker will work fine without it, but it will work better with it.
I was using Commtouch Spam Booster in trial mode and it expired. What impact does that have?
Same as turning it off or uninstalling it. Spam Blocker will still work fine, but you lose the added effectiveness of Commtouch Spam Booster.
If this makes Spam Blocker more effective, doesn't that increase the risk of false positives?
No. It actually is the opposite of that. Messages are able to be tested against a wider cross-section of messages, which means that they can be more accurately categorized.
What are Boost Messages?
These are messages that Commtouch Spam Booster classified as spam that would not otherwise have been classified as spam with just Spam Blocker. In other words, this is the extra spam that Commtouch Spam Booster is classifying.
Will this block spam that comes in audio files?
Spammers depend on being able to send as many messages as possible to be able to make money. They would not use audio files just because of the file size needed for their message.
Will this slow down processing of mail?
No. As Spam Blocker passes messages, it will send those not marked as spam on to Commtouch Spam Booster. The stream continues flowing until all messages have been processed. The only delays encountered would be the additional overhead of the first message being submitted to Commtouch, and the last message returned from Commtouch.
Will this eliminate backscatter mail messages that we receive?
No. Backscatter messages are legitimate messages, though they also may be used by spammers to get their message into your inbox.
Why don't the number of Spams and Non-Spams add up to the number of Scanned Messages?
This is something that you may see when looking at the faceplate of Commtouch Spam Booster. The number of scanned messages will be larger, the difference between the two numbers comes from messages that rarely occur are not displayed in the counter (an example is a malformed message). Because Spam Booster is installed as a service, the number of Scanned Messages is for all racks combined. This applies when you are using Policy Manager in your Untangle server.
Why does Spam Blocker show a larger number of messages scanned than does Commtouch Spam Booster?
If Spam Blocker can clearly determine that a message is spam, there is no need for Spam Booster to provide a second opinion. You are most concerned about the messages that Spam Blocker is unsure about.
