Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewalls

• Anti-spam. The algorithms and methods used by the Barracuda Spam Firewall are the most comprehensive and most advanced in the industry at detecting and filtering spam resulting in the lowest rate of false positives. Barracuda Networks Predictive Sender Profiling looks beyond the reputation of the sender and digs deeper into the spam campaign itself to identify anomalous activity.
• Anti-virus. By utilizing triple layer virus blocking, decompression of archives and file type blocking, the anti-virus engine in the Barracuda Spam Firewall provides complete virus protection. When new spam and virus outbreaks occur, Barracuda Real-Time Protection will block these threats in real-time.
• Anti-spoofing. This technology prevents the use of forged or �spoofed� sender addresses on unsolicited email. The anti-spoofing feature also allows larger organizations to specify a list of IP addresses that are allowed to have a �From� address that appears from inside the organization to support multiple sites and multiple email servers.
• Anti-phishing. The Barracuda Spam Firewall provides robust protection against phishing schemes which are often used to gather confidential information about an organization or its individual users.
• Anti-spyware. (Attachments) - All attachments are scanned and any spyware executables are detected and eliminated immediately.
• Denial of Service Protection. Rate controls are utilized to stop denial of service attacks as well as dictionary based spam attacks. These rate control systems are integrated and automatic in the Barracuda Spam Firewall.

• User Based Filtering. The Barracuda Spam Firewall can be configured to set spam policies by the end-user on an individualized basis or on a global corporate level.
• Individual Spam Scoring. The individual spam scoring feature allows end-users to set their individual thresholds for spam tolerance providing personalized control over spam policies.
• Personal Allow and Block Lists. The Barracuda Spam Firewall can be configured to allow end-users to have control over their individual allow and block lists which further reduces the chance of false positives.
• End-User Quarantine. The Barracuda Spam Firewall provides the ability to setup quarantine mailboxes where users can direct questionable email for later review. This greatly reduces the support load for large organizations.
• Digest Emails. A daily email is sent to all end-users with a quarantine account summarizing the contents of their individual quarantine mailboxes.
• Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes Integration. Barracuda Networks provides a software plug-in for both Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes end-users. With this tool, users can classify messages as spam or not spam in order to fine-tune the filtering and further eliminate any chance of false positives.

• Multilingual User Interface. The Barracuda Spam Firewall features a user interface available in many languages including Chinese (simplified and traditional), German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Czech and English.
• Barracuda Energize Updates. A team of security engineers at Barracuda Central continuously monitors the Internet for trends in spam and virus attacks. As they detect trends, Energize Updates are created and distributed to all Barracuda Spam Firewalls, which are automatically updated with new spam rules, spam algorithms, and virus definitions. These updates require zero administration and ensure that your network has comprehensive and accurate protection even as the methods of attack change.
• Logs and Graphical Reports. System administrators can view logs and generate graphical reports to provide visibility within the organization. The Barracuda Spam Firewall can generate reports on top email users, top spam recipients, top spam senders, and more.
• Journaling. The Barracuda Spam Firewall allows support for message archiving. When a value is specified for the journaling destination address, a copy of all mail sent through the Barracuda Spam Firewall will be forwarded to that address.
• No User Charges. With the Barracuda Spam Firewall there are no user charges so the system administrator does not have to worry about keeping track of new accounts.
• Multiple Domains and Multiple Email Servers. A single Barracuda Spam Firewall can be used for multiple email servers and for multiple domains resulting in lower administrative costs.

• Easy Integration with Existing Network. The Barracuda Spam Firewall integrates with any IT infrastructure no matter how geographically or logically diverse.
• Clustering. Multiple Barracuda Spam Firewall 400 and higher can also be clustered for automatic scalability, redundancy and fault tolerance.
• Hot Swap Redundant Disk Array and Power Supply. These features provide a total solution for reliable fault tolerant data storage management necessary for large enterprises.
• Plug-and-Play Installation. Deploying the Barracuda Spam Firewall is extremely easy. There is no software to install or modifications necessary to your existing email systems, greatly reducing the time and resources required for installation and ongoing support.
• LDAP and Microsoft Active Directory Integration. Directory server integration allows for single sign on, on Barracuda Spam Firewall 400 and higher, and recipient verification, on Barracuda Spam Firewall 300 and higher.

• How does the Barracuda Spam Firewall protect against email threats?

• How is email filtered?

• Why tag email? What happens to tagged emails?

• Why quarantine email? What happens to quarantined email?

• What are some of the underlying technologies used in the Barracuda Spam Firewall?

• If I am using Microsoft Exchange, how will the Barracuda Spam Firewall protect against "dictionary" attacks?

• What new technologies has the Barracuda Spam Firewall added to combat the latest spam campaigns?

• How does the Barracuda Spam Firewall protect against virus threats?

• How does the Barracuda Spam Firewall block real-time threats?

• How much time will I spend installing and maintaining the Barracuda Spam Firewall?

• Will I receive a high number of false positives using a Barracuda Spam Firewall?

• What does Energize Updates include for the Barracuda Spam Firewall?

• Does the Barracuda Spam Firewall offer per user policies?

• Can the Barracuda Spam Firewall filter outbound messages?

• How do I block or minimize the amount of invalid bounce messages?

• Does the Barracuda Spam Firewall enable administrators to block email from other countries?

• How do I know which Barracuda Spam Firewall model is best suited to my needs?

• What if I have more questions about the Barracuda Spam Firewall?

The Barracuda Spam Firewall, an integrated hardware and software solution, uses a multilayered approach to provide the most comprehensive email protection available against spam, viruses, spoofing, phishing and spyware attacks. An added benefit of the Barracuda Spam Firewall is the optimized processing of each email to maximize performance and capability to filter millions of messages per day. Behind the industry-leading initiatives of Predictive Sender Profiling and Barracuda Real-Time Protection are 12 explicit defense layers including: Denial of Service and Security Protection, Rate Controls, IP Reputation Analysis, Sender Authentication, Recipient Verification, Virus Protection, Policy (user-specified rules), Fingerprint Analysis, Intent Analysis, Image Analysis, Bayesian Analysis, and a Spam Rules Scoring engine.

How is email filtered?

Deployed at the network perimeter, all incoming email must pass through all 12 defense layers of the Barracuda Spam Firewall before any of it can reach the intended recipients. The defense layers are grouped into two main classes: connection management, which involves dropping incoming mail connections before receiving messages, and mail scanning, which analyzes messages upon receipt. During the filtering process, emails are checked for new and familiar spammer attacks, viruses, and customized administrator policy violations. Based on administrator and user preferences, spam can be tagged, quarantined or blocked.

How is email filtered?

Tagging email benefits organizations by easily identifying messages that meet set criteria. Tagged emails are delivered to the recipient with a customizable label, such as [BULK], that is added to the subject of the message.

Why quarantine email?  What happens to quarantined email?

Quarantining emails is a safeguard that allows for examination of questionable messages prior to accepting or rejecting; typically, quarantined email does turn out to be spam. An administrator can choose two types of email quarantine: global or per user quarantine. When configured for global quarantine, the Barracuda Spam Firewall routes all quarantined email to a mailbox specified by the administrator. When configured for per user quarantine, the Barracuda Spam Firewall stores the email locally and notifies users periodically of their quarantined email. Users can choose to delete quarantined email, forward it to their own mailboxes or whitelist the sender address to prevent future email from being quarantined. Per user quarantine is available with the Barracuda Spam Firewall 300, 400, 600, 800 and 900 models.

What are some of the underlying technologies used in the Barracuda Spam Firewall?

The Barracuda Spam Firewall uses a combination of proprietary and open source software. The Barracuda Spam Firewall operating system is based on a hardened, stable Linux kernel that has undergone strict scrutiny by top security researchers. The robust MTA is capable of handling a high number of SMTP connections and mail delivery volumes. Starting with firmware release 3.5, the Barracuda Spam Firewall MTA has a built-in journaling function that can be used in conjunction with the Barracuda Message Archiver. Please visit  Barracuda Technology  to learn more about these and other Barracuda Spam Firewall Technologies.

If I am using Microsoft Exchange, how will the Barracuda Spam Firewall protect against "dictionary" attacks?

The Microsoft Exchange Accelerator, available on Barracuda Spam Firewall 300 and higher, uses the Lightweight Dictionary Access Protocol (LDAP) built into Exchange to verify recipients before delivering messages to the Microsoft Exchange Server.

What new technologies has the Barracuda Spam Firewall added to combat the latest spam campaigns?

In 2007 alone, Barracuda Networks has announced several initiatives against spam:

• Multi-Pass Optical Character Recognition Engine: Image spam generally embeds text within images with the intent of hiding content and bypassing the text rules processing layers of spam filters. With Barracuda Networks' industry-leading multi-pass OCR engine, Barracuda Spam Firewalls render the spammers' tricks to hide text behind color or blurred images ineffective.
• Predictive Sender Profiling: Barracuda Networks� industry-leading Predictive Sender Profiling probes deeper into sent email and digs into the campaign itself to identify anomalous sender activity, allowing Barracuda Networks to effectively block spam typically unstoppable by traditional reputation analysis.
• Barracuda Real-Time Protection: Barracuda Real-Time Protection uses an advanced set of technologies to immediately block the latest virus, spyware and other malware attacks as they emerge. Leveraging the Barracuda Spam Firewalls large and diverse customer base, Barracuda Networks leads in industry in detecting early trends and responding to email-borne threats.

The Barracuda Spam Firewall provides comprehensive protection against virus threats through three powerful layers. The first layer consists of a well-respected open source virus scanning engine. The second layer is a proprietary virus engine maintained by Barracuda Central, an advanced 24/7 security operations center that works to continuously monitor and block the latest Internet threats. The third layer is Barracuda Real-Time Protection, a set of advanced technologies that enable Barracuda Spam Firewalls to immediately block the latest virus, spyware and other malware attacks as they emerge without having to wait for a signature to be downloaded onto the Barracuda Spam Firewall.

How does the Barracuda Spam Firewall block real-time threats?

Barracuda Central engineers diligently work 24x7 monitoring spam and virus threats around the world. Since response times are crucial with real-time threats, when one is detected the Barracuda Spam Firewall uses  Barracuda Real-Time Protection  to mitigate these threats as they emerge without waiting for new updates.

How much time will I spend installing and maintaining the Barracuda Spam Firewall?

The Barracuda Spam Firewall is designed as an easy-to-install appliance requiring minimal administrative overhead. Without any tuning, the Barracuda Spam Firewall offers a 95 percent spam accuracy rate with a 0.01 percent false positive rate. Taking into account the six defense layers automatically tuned by Energize Updates, the Barracuda Spam Firewall is easily kept up-to-date for ongoing spam accuracy.

Will I receive a high number of false positives using a Barracuda Spam Firewall?

With no tuning, the Barracuda Spam Firewall is set to minimize false positives, typically at 0.01 percent or less - one of the lowest false positive ratings in the industry. As with any solution that allows for user customization, each customer�s false positive return will vary depending on how the administrator tunes the unit (i.e. a stricter spam score setting may result in more false positives).

What does Energize Updates include for the Barracuda Spam Firewall?

The Barracuda Energize Updates subscription provides the latest spam and virus definition updates that block new campaigns before they become an outbreak. Barracuda Central engineers constantly update spam and virus definitions and are able to remotely tune six of the 12 defense layers, thereby minimizing administration time. Energize Updates also gives you access to technical support, new firmware releases and the opportunity to participate in the Barracuda Early Release Firmware program.

Does the Barracuda Spam Firewall offer per user policies?

Per user policies are available in Barracuda Spam Firewall 300 and higher. Per user policies empower users with the ability to set their own individual scoring policies, Bayesian database, allow lists and block lists.

Can the Barracuda Spam Firewall filter outbound messages?

Yes. The Barracuda Spam Firewall filters outbound messages for viruses and basic spam scanning policies. For advanced outbound scanning, Barracuda Networks offers the Barracuda Spam Firewall-Outbound which includes different workflows for quarantining outbound email traffic for review by policy auditors.

How do I block or minimize the amount of invalid bounce messages?

Invalid bounce messages are non-delivery reports to forged email addresses. To block invalid bounce messages, enable the Invalid Bounce Suppression feature and relay all your outgoing email through the Barracuda Spam Firewall or the Barracuda Spam Firewall-Outbound appliance.

Does the Barracuda Spam Firewall enable administrators to block email from other countries?

Yes. The Barracuda Spam Firewall offers different ways to block spam from other countries:

1. Based on a Reverse DNS lookup, administrators block messages whose top level domain resolves to a country's hostname.
2. Based on the declared character set of an email, administrators block messages that contain a specific language set.
3. While it is not recommended by Barracuda Networks, administrators create custom policies to filter other patterns in the subject, header or body to block unwanted email from other countries.

EconRam Systems' sales representatives can evaluate your environment based on the number of active users, email traffic and desired features. As your organization expands, the Barracuda Spam Firewall can be clustered to accommodate your additional growth.

What if I have more questions about the Barracuda Spam Firewall?

For additional assistance, please visit the technical support forum at  Barracuda Networks  or contact EconRam Systems by phone: (877) 500-ECON (3266) or email: "info@econram.com".