Email Sandboxing, Pattern Filtering, and Other Much-Loved SpamTitan Features

SpamTitan is a next-generation anti-spam, anti-phishing, and anti-malware solution for businesses that incorporates AI-based threat detection, email sandboxing, and many other advanced email security features. Some of the most important and best-loved features of SpamTitan are explained below:

Email Sandboxing in SpamTitan

Email sandboxing is a vital element of email security, yet many email security solutions lack this feature. An email sandbox is a secure, virtual machine where links can be followed and attachments opened where they cannot cause any harm. A malicious link that leads to an automatic malware download can be followed in safety, and even the nastiest piece of malware can be executed without risk as the sandbox is isolated, not connected to any network, and contains no real data.

The sandbox is configured to appear to be a genuine endpoint in order to trick malicious actors into thinking malware has reached its intended target. When a file is opened in the sandbox it is subject to deep analysis, and any malicious or suspicious actions are detected. Emails are subject to a battery of front-end checks, including scans using two anti-virus engines, and any emails that pass these checks but are determined to potentially pose a risk are sent to the sandbox for behavioral analysis. That includes emails along with any attached documents, spreadsheets, and executable files.

Sandboxing for email is important because of the speed at which novel malware samples are used in attacks. Rather than just use one version of a keylogger in a campaign, a threat actor will use dozens of versions of that keylogger, each differing slightly to evade signature-based detection mechanisms. AI and automation are used by threat actors to churn out new malware variants rapidly, and signature-based detection alone is no longer good enough. With sandboxing, email protection is greatly improved against these zero-day threats which would otherwise be delivered to end users’ inboxes.

Pattern Filtering in SpamTitan

One of the most loved features of SpamTitan is Pattern Filtering. It saves IT security teams a considerable amount of their precious time by ensuring spammy and phishy emails are not delivered. The Pattern Filtering feature allows administrators to use their own terminology to block inbound emails. Simply set a word or phrase through Pattern Filtering, and SpamTitan will search the subject line and message body and can be configured to generate a warning or quarantine the email if the word or phrase is found.

An example of where this can be useful is combating the Nigerian scam/419 fraud, a type of advanced fee fraud. The 419 comes from Section 419 of the Nigerian Criminal Code which prohibits this kind of scam. While the scam is common with Nigerian cybercriminals, cybercriminal groups in many different countries also conduct this type of scam. While the themes of the emails vary, they all have the same aim. An example would be a prominent person who has substantial funds in their account has been unable to transfer the funds out of the country due to unfair restrictions. They offer to transfer these funds to the user’s account to get the money out of the country in exchange for a percentage of those funds as payment, which may be as high as 20%, which is a life-changing amount of money. The catch? In order to proceed, charges need to be covered and they must be paid in advance. The Pattern Filtering option can be used to block these emails by incorporating phrases commonly used in these emails.

Geo-Filtering in SpamTitan

SpamTitan also incorporates geo-filtering, which allows users to block emails from specific countries. If you never do business with countries in Africa, for example, you can simply block all emails coming from African IP addresses with a few clicks of a mouse, rather than manually blocking IP addresses from which you get a lot of spam emails. This feature saves IT teams a considerable amount of time. One user who has benefited greatly from this feature is Benjamin Jeffrey, IT manager at M&M Golf Cars. His company was receiving many requests from countries that the company does not do business with and was getting flooded with spam emails from a specific IP subnet in a country. He configured the geo-filtering and instantly blocked all those messages. When he checked 6 months after configuring that feature, around 12,000 emails had been blocked. Geo-blocking is also useful for blocking malware quickly. Malware distribution campaigns are often launched from a handful of countries, and geo-filtering can be used to block those messages with ease.

AI and Machine Learning in SpamTitan

SpamTitan has AI and machine learning capabilities to improve the detection of spam and phishing emails. These technologies learn about the emails that are typically received by a company and create a baseline against which new emails can be measured. When emails deviate from the norms, they are flagged as risky and are subjected to more stringent security checks or are quarantined for manual inspection. These technologies greatly improve spam and phishing email catch rates and allow SpamTitan to improve day-by-day. These technologies are a vital defense against zero-day phishing threats – new threats that have not been encountered on the 500+ million endpoints from which threat intelligence is gathered.

Find out More About SpamTitan

These are just some of the most loved and most beneficial features of SpamTitan. In addition to having a high catch-rate and low false positive rate, SpamTitan is one of the most affordable email security solutions on the market, it’s quick and easy to set up, and requires little maintenance. The features, price, and ease of use are why it is loved by thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses, enterprises, and managed service providers. To find out more, give the TitanHQ team a call. The product is available on a 100% free trial if you want to put it to the test, and product demonstrations can be arranged on request.