PMDF-MTA V5.2 from Innosoft International, Inc. (SMTP/MIME-based MTA with added security anti-SPAM features)
Platforms: Solaris, VMS, Digital Unix
Price: start at $2,000 (upto 5000 messages/day); $18,000 for unlimited
URL: http://www.innosoft.com

The latest release of the PMDF-MTA enterprise backbone offers added security features and improved message transfer agent (MTA) filtering that will help avoid the rising tide of e-mail spam. In addition, a new directory synchronization module has been added to the PMDF product set.

Directory synchronization is now available using PMDF-DIRSYNC, which is sold as an add-on module to PMDFs SMTP/MIME backbone, PMDF-MTA. PMDF-DIRSYNC provides a fully automated, highly customizable solution for synchronizing data contained in multiple disparate mail system directories. In addition, PMDF-MTA V5.2 has been enhanced to include added security features that support the Internets Simple Authentication Security Layer (SASL) standard, and SMTP AUTH. Providing enhanced message filtering capabilities for added protection from e-mail spam, PMDF-MTA also now supports the Sieve scripting language.

Support for the Internets SASL standard, as defined by RFC #2222, has been implemented in PMDF-MTA V5.2. SASL enables PMDF to take advantage of various methods of authentication, including the protection of user passwords as they travel over the wire. This makes the password useless to someone who might try to intercept it and use it to log onto a system under false pretenses.

SASL also allows a site to have a great deal of flexibility in building a secure messaging infrastructure that includes enhanced abilities to authenticate users. For example, using PMDF-MTA V5.2 in conjunction with the LDAP-based IDDS enterprise directoryInnosofts Distributed Directory Server, a customer can configure PMDF to authenticate users against the LDAP server. Using authentication methods, which do not reveal plain-text passwords on the network, such as the challenge-response mechanism CRAM-MD5, users are provided with a much higher level of security.

Through SASL and the SMTP "AUTH" extension, PMDF-MTA V5.2 now allows sites to configure SMTP servers to require user authentication before accepting a message for submission. The use of SMTP AUTH is of particular benefit to nomadic users whenever they are accessing e-mail from outside their local network. In order to protect against strangers from using PMDF to relay spam, for example, the default setting for PMDF-MTA is simply not to relay messages to users outside the network. To avoid having PMDF reject a nomadic users messagethinking it may be attempting to use PMDF to relay spamPMDF uses SMTP AUTH to identify an authorized user, and thereby allows them to submit the message through the server.

Enhanced MTA filtering has improved PMDFs ability to reduce the growing volume of unsolicited bulk e-mail, commonly referred to as "spam". Now with added support for Sievea scripting language that is currently a working draft and intended to become an Internet standardrules can be built at the MTA, channel, and end user levels that will determine which messages are to be accepted or denied using identifiers contained in the "From:", "To:", or "Subject:" fields, as well as other header information.

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