Spam Attacks Surge Over 150% Since October

November 20, 2000 

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 20, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The tidal wave of unsolicited email -- or spam -- is gathering force. Brightmail, Inc., the leading provider of message filtering solutions, reports that the Brightmail Logistics and Operations Center(TM) (BLOC(TM)) intercepted 8,000 -- 13,000 spam attacks each day last week. Each spam attack represents the bulk mailing of a message with unique characteristics sent during a 24-hour period.

"We just ended our busiest week ever producing nearly 1,000 unique rules each day to block this huge volume of spam from the 100+ million electronic in-boxes that we protect," said Matthew Steele, Director of Operations at Brightmail. "Just last month when we announced the Brightmail Spamometer we were intercepting an average of 4,900 attacks per day which represented a 400% increase over the previous year."

"Spammers are becoming more aggressive and sophisticated in their attempts to deliver a myriad of products, 'get rich,' weight loss, political, and other dubious propositions to the fast growing number of email boxes," said Gary Hermansen, CEO of Brightmail. "In addition, spam seriously affects the service providers by increasing the costs associated with delivering a satisfying email experience to their customers. That's why Brightmail developed the 'mailwall' — a system that protects the integrity of messaging systems by eliminating spam and other email-borne threats at the entry point."

Brightmail Solution Suite(TM) - The Best in Class Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus Solution

The Brightmail Anti-Spam Solution is just one component of the Brightmail Solution Suite(TM), a comprehensive message filtering and analysis solution designed for carrier-class messaging systems. The Brightmail Solution Suite also includes an Anti-Virus option, which detects and cleans email-borne threats before malicious code reaches the end-user's desktop.

About Brightmail

Brightmail, Inc. provides advanced message management solutions that enable ISPs, Wireless Carriers, ASPs, Internet Portals, and Enterprises to protect their email systems from abuse. The Brightmail Solution Suite is a carrier-class mailwall that prevents spam and viruses from entering the message flow. The Brightmail Probe Network continuously monitors millions of email messages and the Brightmail Logistics and Operations Center(TM) (BLOC) produces and deploys countermeasures to our customer's email networks such as AT&T WorldNet, Critical Path, Earthlink, Motorola, MSN, and many other leading service providers.

Brightmail is a privately held firm with funding from Accel Partners, Crosslink Capital, Symantec Corporation, and Technology Crossover Ventures. For more information about Brightmail, please visit the company's Web site at www.brightmail.com.

NOTE: Brightmail, Probe Network, Brightmail Logistics and Operations Center, BLOC, Brightmail Solution Suite and the Probe Network are trademarks or registered trademarks of Brightmail, Inc.

SOURCE Brightmail, Inc.

CONTACT: Chris Halcon of Brightmail, Inc., 415-365-6174, or chalcon@brightmail.com URL: http://brightmail.com http://www.prnewswire.com

© 2000 PR Newswire

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