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Frequently Asked Questions

Questions

• Does the Postini Service decrease the security of our email?
• What is an MX record?
• Do we lose control of our MX record when we point it to the Email Defense Service?
• Does the Email Defense Service filtering work when I send mail or only when I receive it?
• Does Postini Service filter email internal to our network?
• How do I know what mail has been blocked as spam?
• Is there a risk that legitimate email sent to our company will accidentally be blocked?
• Do I need a password to view messages blocked as spam?
• How does Postini identify and block spammer attacks? Do you have a team dedicated to monitoring and protecting against spammer and worm attacks?
• Does the Postini Service compromise privacy?

Answers

1. Does the Postini Service decrease the security of our email?
   No. On average, a single email experiences 7-10 "hops" (the number of routers through which it is sent) as it travels from sender to recipient. The Postini Service becomes the final "hop" in the journey. Adding this extra "hop" introduces no additional insecurity to the process of sending or receiving email. In fact, while the Postini Service acts like any other router in the transmission process, it actually adds a layer of security to your email by shielding your MX record from the Internet, where it may otherwise be accessible by spammers and hackers.
   
   
2. What is an MX record?
   A Mail Exchange record, or MX record, is an entry in a DNS database that identifies the mail server responsible for handling email for that domain. In other words, your MX record is like your primary postal address, to which all of your mail is sent. When you use the Postini Service, you change your MX record and make the address of the Postini Service your primary address. All email from the outside is sent to Postini first. This conceals your Internet-facing mail servers and gateways and protects you from attack. The Postini Service then filters your email as it is redirected to your true address.
   
   
3. Do we lose control of our MX record when we point it to the Postini Mail Filter Service?
   No. The MX record remains in your control. At anytime your MX record may be configured to point back to your messaging infrastructure. You may also lower your MX record's time-to-live (TTL) to increase propagation times.
   
   
4. Does the Postini Service filtering work when I send mail or only when I receive it?
   Postini Service filtering only works on messages you receive.
   
   
5. Does Postini Mail Filter Service filter email internal to our network?
   As a proxy-based managed service, the Postini Service currently does not offer filtering for email sent within an internal messaging network (intranet).
   
   
6. How do I know what mail has been blocked as spam?
   End users receive a Spam Quarantine Report in their inbox that contains a link to their quarantine. This notification allows them to access blocked messages and restore messages from quarantine, if desired, and easily configure the system to allow those types of email in the future.
   
   
7. Is there a risk that legitimate email sent to our company will accidentally be blocked?
   Postini provides over 98% filtering accuracy and an industry-leading low false positive rate (legitimate email incorrectly marked as spam). In the rare event of a false positive, the Postini Service provides each end-user with a daily Spam Quarantine Report that enables end-users to locate any legitimate emails, release them to their inbox, and ensure that those messages are not blocked in the future.
   
   
8. Do I need a password to view messages blocked as spam?
   No. You can directly access and view spam through the Spam Quarantine Report that is emailed to your inbox.
   
   
9. How does Postini identify and block spammer attacks? Do you have a team dedicated to monitoring and protecting against spammer and worm attacks?
   Postini has the industry's foremost experts on messaging and has leveraged that expertise in their Threat Management Centesr - Postini's around-the-clock email threat monitoring center. The Threat Management team is continuously watching the flow of email through our system for new spammer techniques, DoS attacks, viruses, worms, or any other threat that can enter and harm a customer's network.
   
   
10. Does the Postini Service compromise privacy?
    Postini Service takes the security and privacy of user data seriously. Messages are filtered in real-time as they are being simultaneously delivered into yours messaging environment. Because Postini's service is proxy-based, your messages are not stored to disk in order to be filtered, where they can be lost if the disk is damaged or corrupted nor can they be read.