A Californian company has come up with a way to double check your mail filter, finding the diamonds that have been thrown out with the dirt.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [August 19, 2004]

Sausalito, Calif.-based MiaVia is an anti-spam company that was founded to fix the problems caused by false positives. As we described in our last article on the company, almost a year ago (Trade Spam for Software), the company uses a sample-based filter to attack spam without generating false positives.

"There's so much unfounded speculation around false positives," says Jeff Glass, CEO of Mia Via. "Spam is easy to spot, because users complain, but users never see the false positives."

Anti-spam companies must therefore be proactive about enabling users to locate false positives. Glass says that when customers used his product along side more traditional filters, he found that his product could identify cases where traditional filters had erred in labeling good mail as spam. "We were able to get the false positives and return them," he says.

This is a needed service. A year ago, we wrote (in The Spam Conundrum) that filters are useful but not perfect, and are best for ISPs if they are set at the most permissive settings. While this can let through 20 percent of all spam, it reduces false positives. Now there's a better solution to false positives.

And MiaVia's willing to let you test it for free for thirty days. At ISP-Planet, we always recommend taking advantage of free trials. Although it's true that if you factor in wages and other expenses, they're not free, they are certainly useful. Whether or not you choose to use the software, you've learned a valuable lesson worth every penny.

A virtual MiaVia
In tandem with its false positive solution, MiaVia is announcing that ISPs can use its software either as a hosted product running on MiaVia's servers or as a licensed product running on the ISP's own servers.

Unlike other hosted solutions, MiaVia's Accessio software does not require ISPs to redirect the message flow to MiaVia's servers. Instead, the ISP needs to forward only a copy of the message. "Usually a response is returned very rapidly," says Glass. In the worst case scenario, the message is delivered without filtering if the connection to MiaVia times out for any reason.

Glass says the hosted solution will only be useful for smaller ISPs. "It provides an easy way to get our solution without buying the whole thing. Typically, at 150 users or more, it's better to buy a license."

The other change since one year ago is that ISPs can no longer get the software for free in exchange for forwarding copies of all spam they receive. MiaVia is growing. Be sure to check it out if you're in the market for anti-spam software.

However, Glass has a special offer for ISP-Planet readers: mention ISP-Planet and the previous "trade spam for software" offer, and you'll get an extended 45 day free trial period and a price reduction relative to the volume of spam you contribute to the company's always-improving filter.

—End