Why doesn't ITCS offer Brightmail like CAEN does?
ITCS did consider offering Brightmail. In fact, in late 2004, ITCS was getting ready to roll Brightmail out to the campus. At that point, however, Brightmail was purchased by another company, and the price went up significantly. Implementing Brightmail became cost-prohibitive, and ITCS rolled out SpamBox (using open source DSPAM software) instead.
In 2006, the Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam (AVAS) Steering Team,* a group with representatives from across campus, reviewed anti-spam options for the University. Their recommendation was that ITCS continue offering SpamBox and the Do Not Spam List with the use of ITCS IMAP mailboxes for now, rather than switching to any other anti-spam product.
ITCS does provide Brightmail as part of its Exchange mail service. This is a charged-for mail service available to faculty and staff in participating departments.
Spammers continue to adapt to anti-spam products, and anti-spam software vendors continue their efforts to thwart the adaptations. The amount of spam sent increases all the time, and anti-spam vendors are struggling to deal with it. (See Why is there so much spam? for details.)
The question of what anti-spam products ITCS should provide to the University will be re-evaluated from time to time as the spam situation changes and as resources available for supporting these efforts change. For a summary of anti-spam services at U-M, see Comprehensive Anti-Spam Services.
* For more about the AVAS Steering Team, including a copy of its report and recommendations, see the IT Commons web site. Click the Anti-Virus/Anti-Spam link in the left-hand column.
This page last verified March 2008
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