As part of Norton's Internet Security suite, Norton AntiSpam makes sense as the spam detection and removal client of choice for current users of the Symantec suite. Its appeal to newcomers, on the other hand, is not quite as certain.
While definitely not without its limitations — the client is neither the most powerful nor the most efficient anti-spam utility available — Norton AntiSpam is also not without its merits. The client is easy to use and, more importantly, makes managing spam easier than most competing clients.
The client offers full integration with Microsoft Outlook 2000/XP/2003, Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5 and later, and Eudora 5.0 and later, and is also compatible with most POP3-compatible email programs, including Netscape Messenger 4.x and Netscape Mail 6.0. In addition to being bundled with Norton Internet Security, Norton AntiSpam is also available in standalone format for just under $40. We evaluated the client as an integrated component of Norton Internet Security integrated with Outlook Express 6.
What Norton AntiSpam Does Well
Norton AntiSpam's Bayesian filtering capabilities are quite impressive, erring a bit on the conservative side by default, which ensures that you'll still catch the rare message from the long-lost friend or associate that hasn't dropped you a line in months – or years. This means in general you'll still see a few spam messages arrive in your inbox folder, but the vast majority will be relegated to the Norton AntiSpam Folder, a holding folder for reviewing messages before jettisoning them into the deleted items wastebin.
Users have a limited selection of configuration settings available to them, including a filtering setting that determines the level of spamming. The three available options range from a low level of filtering that identifies the least amount of spam but that also ensures personal email is rarely if ever falsely identified as spam, to a high level that offers maximum filtering for identifying the most spam (at the expense of more frequent false identifications of valuable email as spam). The default level is a middle ground between the two that identifies nearly all incoming spam while simultaneously limiting false positives.
In addition to its Bayesian filtering capabilities, user-defined rules can be added for specifying specific words or keyphrases as indicators of valid email or spam. And while Norton AntiSpam automatically adds addresses to its allowed and blocked lists depending on how incoming mail is identified as valid or spam, the user can also manually add or remove e-mail addresses in the configuration area.
