A little technology based spring cleaning – my thoughts on malware and e-mail security technologies that are being phased out and the newer, better technologies that are taking their place:

The first technology being replaced is the traditional spam filter. As we all know, the % of spam and unwanted e-mail has been steadily increasing for the last decade. Clearly, the concept of filtering e-mail based on content has failed to even make a dent in the problem. Even the best spam filters, all based on a blend of heuristics and/or Bayesian probability, have proven to be reactive and ineffective. The replacement for these failed systems is e-mail address verification. Only through the establishment of human-to-human e-mail address verification can people begin to regain their confidence in e-mail as a trusted form of communication for business.

The next technology being replaced is signature based anti-virus tools. Gone are the days when enterprises can rely on a single vendor, or even a group of vendors, to provide virus definitions and scanning tools. Intelligent pattern recognition engines, like those provided by Commtouch RPD, are proving to be more effective and more efficient than traditional signature based tools.

Next, all technologies that call themselves “IP Reputations” technologies are on their way out. Products and services like Spamhaus, Spamcop, and other blacklisting databases are the cancer of the Internet and cause more harm than good. As the world moves from IPv4 to IPv6, these IP Reputation tools/systems/databases will become irrelevant.

Finally, from a security perspective, IPv4 is on its way out, to be replaced with IPv6. This transition is well underway within the confines of wireless networks and large private networks, and will soon be making its way into the public domain.