Wednesday, November 26, 2003
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Wednesday, November 26, 2003 |
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Fayetteville business offers spam-fighting software to companies By JOHN MUNFORD A Fayetteville company is playing a role in helping companies fight unwanted e-mail through a new software program called Spam Smacker. This is the first software rollout for Pro Exchange, which has thrived as a consulting business for corporate clients such as Pfizer, AT&T, Chevron and Texaco. Steve Bryant, president and CEO of Pro Exchange, said the software was developed from the company’s experience working with e-mail servers using Microsoft Exchange. Spam Smacker uses keywords to detect spam —Êunwanted e-mail — and can also target spam messages by checking the authenticity of the message, Bryant said. Many e-mail spammers use accounts that appear to have originated from America Online or other companies, but their actual Internet addresses don’t correspond with those companies, Bryant noted. E-mail sent from such fraudulent addresses is deleted on the spot by Spam Smacker, Bryant said. Another benefit of Spam Smacker is there is a low rate of false positives, meaning that well-intentioned usually makes it through. “We’re learning a lot as we go,” Bryant said, adding that 15,000 licenses for Spam Smacker have been sold so far. The company plans to evolve its development of the software, but he added that he was open to changing the name of Spam Smacker at a later date. Spam Smacker is designed for small to medium companies with 100 to 5,000 employees. Although the company’s office is in downtown Fayetteville near Wendy’s, some of Bryant’s consultants work from their homes when not in the field working with clients, allowing one of his employees to live in Colorado and another to live in South Carolina. “With the right people, that can work really well,” Bryant said of the telecommuting office. Pro Exchange has served as a corporate computer consultant for 10 years, with clients in Europe and England also, Bryant noted.
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