MailScanner
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. (Consider using more specific cleanup instructions.) Please help improve this article if you can. The talk page may contain suggestions. (November 2009) |
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009) |
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Julian Field |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 4.83 / March 23, 2011 |
| Operating system | Cross-platform |
| Type | Mail filter |
| License | GPL |
| Website | www.mailscanner.info |
MailScanner is an open source e-mail security system for use on Unix e-mail gateways and was first released in 2001. It protects against viruses and spam. It is distributed under the GNU General Public License.
The author, Julian Field, won the 2004 Open Source Award from UKUUG for the product.[1]
Worldwide, the software is estimated by the author to be processing over five billion e-mails per week, with over 1,000,000 downloads. ISPs and mobile telephone networks are included in this list of users.[citation needed]
More recently, anti-phishing measures have been introduced. The software spots attempts at obfuscating URLs (for example, to lure the user into thinking they are signing into their bank, when in reality they are using an imposter web site) and modifies the e-mail with a suitable warning.
Contents |
[edit] Technology
MailScanner is implemented in around 50,000 lines of Perl. It links with other software packages in order to fulfill its duties:
- E-mail server (MTA) (e.g. sendmail).
- Anti-virus software (e.g. ClamAV – over twenty five different products are supported).
- Anti-spam software (SpamAssassin).
As with any complex software platform, performance results can vary wildly depending on a wide variety of factors. That said, anecdotal evidence suggests that a quad Xeon PC with 2 GB of RAM and 15 kRPM SCSI disks can process something in the area of 2.2 million messages per day.[2]
[edit] Related software
- MailWatch for MailScanner
- Baruwa is a web 2.0 front-end for MailScanner
- MailScanner Ruleset Editor
- MailScanner-MRTG
- WebMin Module for MailScanner
- Vispan
[edit] References
- ^ "UKUUG - Open Source Award 2004". UKUUG. 2004-05-16. http://www.ukuug.org/pr/osa2004-winner.html. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
- ^ "MailScanner 'Most Asked Questions (Setup examples)'". MailScanner. http://wiki.mailscanner.info/doku.php?id=maq:index#setup_examples. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
[edit] External links
- MailScanner home page
- MailScanner Wiki (documentation website)
- OSS Watch - MailScanner: a case study in sustainability
- Julian Field's home page
 |
This software article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
