PineApp's Mail-SeCure Appliance Automatically Blocks Newest Email Threats—including Image Spam, PDF Spam and Excel Spam—Right Out of the Box

Business Wire, August 7, 2007

IRVINE, Calif. -- Fighting email threats is like trying to hit a rapidly moving target. As soon as security solutions devise filters and blocks to thwart one type of threat, attackers and spammers move on to another, always staying one step ahead. Since most security solutions play catch up, they leave a window of vulnerability during which networks can be exploited.

PineApp[TM] Corporation's perimeter security technology provides a first line of defense regardless of the content of the email. Using 11 proactive anti-spam engines and five anti-virus engines which include real-time components, the system provides an impenetrable defense against existing and emerging threats. Mail-SeCure[TM] recognizes email threats in any form and blocks them before they ever reach the network.

Mail-SeCure blocks the threats instantly, thus eliminating the dependency on adding new filters, signatures or software upgrades.

"Unless an email security solution can instantly block new email threats before they hit the network, it is relatively useless," stated Jacob Fox, PineApp Corporation's president and CEO. "Typically, a massive spam or virus outbreak will only last a few hours and is launched from a network of 'zombie' machines. To complicate the detection process, each message within the massive spam outbreak can be composed differently and can employ more than one evasion technique. Mail-SeCure, which is attached outside the network, offers zero-hour protection against spam and viruses in any form right out of the box."

Image-based spam accounts for about half of all spam on networks, Fox noted. Every spam image within the outbreak is regenerated using different techniques such as white noises, random color changing, geometric shapes, etc. Because the image appeared genuine and has a unique pattern, it passes unchallenged into the network.

When email security solutions finally developed methods for blocking image-based spam, spammers progressed to alternate threats. Some moved to the PDF format: when the PDF attachment is opened, it displays a common stock "pump-and-dump" spam image with randomly altered letters to hamper character recognition technology. A newer threat is Excel spam, which promotes stocks in file attachments with names such as "invoice20202.xls," "stock information-3572.xls" and "requested report.xls." As solutions are developed to block these threats, spammers will morph yet again, and the game of cat and mouse will continue.

Mail-SeCure stops this game cold. The appliance protects organizations and enterprises from both targeted email threats (spam, viruses, worms, Trojan horses) and non-targeted email-related threats (mail-bombing, denial of service and backscatter). It creates a buffer between the Internet and the organization's email systems by using a full pack of perimeter anti-spam/anti-virus security layers. Its 11 anti-spam engines include pattern detection, zombie detection, zero-hour detection, IP reputation and image spam defense, plus a heuristic and a Bayesian engine to recognize spam in any form and block it. Its five anti-virus engines include three signature based, one heuristic based and one zero-hour detection mechanism.

The appliance provides administrators tools to enforce advanced local policy as well as a mechanism to control and manage their mail flow, so it is also easy to set up and use almost immediately.

About PineApp Corporation

PineApp[TM], a global leader in securing email systems, offers comprehensive appliance solutions for small, medium and large organizations. Founded in 2002, PineApp has corporate headquarters in Nesher, Israel and American headquarters in Irvine, California, with additional offices in the US, UK, Israel, Italy, Russia, South Africa, Spain and France. In the past five years, PineApp has specialized in email and content security systems and has a significant presence in more than 50 countries. PineApp has established itself as a pioneer in developing unique and innovative technologies to fight Internet and email threats. For more information see http://www.pineapp.com.