Data and Database Management Software
Software defends against PDF spam.
Press Release Summary:
Powered by Proofpoint MLX(TM) machine learning technology, Proofpoint Spam Detection(TM) module offers 99% effectiveness against PDF-based spam. Program can extract text within PDF attachments and apply machine learning algorithms to identify even never-before-seen spam. Predictive nature of algorithms, combined with ability to perform deep content inspection on hundreds of different attachment types, makes Proofpoint MLX prepared to defend against future waves of attachment-based spam.
Original Press Release:
Proofpoint MLX Technology Enhanced to Defend against Attachment-Based Spam As PDF Spam Surges by 500% in Two Weeks
Enhancements to Proofpoint MLX Anti-spam Technology Protect Against All Types of Spammy Attachments Including PDF and Image-based Spam
CUPERTINO, Calif., Aug. 14 - Proofpoint, Inc., the leading provider of unified email security and data loss prevention solutions, today announced the availability of a new version of its machine learning-based anti-spam technology that offers enhanced protection against PDF spam (unsolicited email messages where the message "payload" is hidden inside of an Adobe Acrobat PDF file attached to the message) and other forms of attachment- based spam, such as Excel-based spam. Through a combination of analysis techniques, including the ability to open, extract and analyze the contents of message attachments, the Proofpoint Spam Detection(TM) module-powered by Proofpoint MLX(TM) machine learning technology-offers higher than 99% effectiveness against PDF-based spam.
During the past two weeks, PDF-based spam surged approximately 500%, from less than 5% of all spam, to nearly 25% of all spam observed by the Proofpoint Attack Response Center. In comparison, image-based spam using GIF or JPEG has represented less than 4% of all spam during the same period.
"Spammers have realized that most anti-spam solutions do not analyze PDF attachments, so they simply started putting their same old spam content, whether text or images, inside of PDF files," said Andres Kohn, vice president of product management for Proofpoint, Inc. "We started seeing small amounts of PDF spam months ago, but the volumes surpassed even image-based spam at the beginning of August, and have now quintupled in the past two weeks."
Proofpoint MLX technology has evolved and adapted to address PDF spam since it first appeared. The latest version of Proofpoint MLX technology automatically identifies and reacts to new PDF-based spam campaigns as they appear. Proofpoint customers have been protected against the latest PDF spam attacks (with 99% or higher effectiveness) because ongoing enhancements to Proofpoint MLX are delivered automatically, without requiring product upgrades.
In addition, the Proofpoint MLX engine can extract the text within PDF attachments and apply its sophisticated machine learning algorithms to identify even never-before-seen spam attachments. The predictive nature of the advanced algorithms used in Proofpoint MLX, combined with the ability to perform deep content inspection on hundreds of different attachment types, makes Proofpoint MLX uniquely prepared to defend against future waves of attachment-based spam.
"New forms of spam are becoming increasingly sophisticated and, at the same time, there continues to be a steady rise in the volume of spam messages hitting most enterprises," said Kohn. "As a result, organizations need to deploy technology that addresses both the complexity of new attacks while eliminating as many known 'spammy' email connections as possible. Proofpoint's machine learning based content scanning and reputation analysis technologies address both concerns."
Proofpoint's email reputation service, Proofpoint Dynamic Reputation(TM) is the only service of its kind that uses a combination of local, predictive behavioral data and globally-observed reputation-analyzed by powerful machine learning algorithms-to block incoming connections from malicious IP addresses. The system provides Proofpoint customers with an accurate, first line of defense against spam, directory harvest attacks, denial of service attacks and other email-borne threats while delivering substantial bandwidth savings.
Proofpoint MLX provides outstanding accuracy against all types of spam by examining hundreds of thousands of structural, reputation and content attributes in each message and its attachments. Traditional anti-spam solutions evaluate only a limited number of attributes and are unable to decisively classify spam, leading to low effectiveness and a high number of misclassified messages ("false positives"). The advanced methods used in Proofpoint MLX are superior to simple statistical techniques, techniques that rely purely on sender reputation and signature- or fingerprint-based techniques, all of which are easily fooled by spammers.
Together, the Proofpoint Spam Detection and Proofpoint Dynamic Reputation modules provide an extremely accurate, comprehensive and cost-effective solution to advanced forms of spam and increases in spam volume.
Proofpoint's enhanced anti-spam engine is available as part of the recently introduced Proofpoint 5 family of messaging security solutions. Current Proofpoint customers are automatically protected against PDF spam and other forms of attachment-based spam through regular spam engine updates provided through the Proofpoint Dynamic Update Service(TM).
For more information about Proofpoint MLX technology, download Proofpoint's technology whitepapers:
o Proofpoint MLX-Machine Learning to Beat Spam Today and Tomorrow:
www.proofpoint.com/id/mlxwp
o Proofpoint Dynamic Reputation and netMLX-Next-generation Reputation
Technology: www.proofpoint.com/id/reputationwp
About Proofpoint, Inc.
Proofpoint provides unified email security and data loss prevention solutions for enterprises, universities, government organizations and ISPs to defend against inbound threats such as spam and viruses, prevent leaks of confidential and private information across all protocols, and encrypt sensitive emails. Proofpoint's products are controlled by a single management and policy console and are powered by Proofpoint MLX(TM) technology, an advanced machine learning system developed by Proofpoint scientists and engineers. Proofpoint provides the most scalable and flexible deployment model including: hardware appliance, virtual appliance, hosted services and software. For more information, please visit www.proofpoint.com/.
Web site: www.proofpoint.com/
http://www.proofpoint.com/id/mlxwp
http://www.proofpoint.com/id/reputationwp
