4. Conclusion

Today, there's no denying it: spam is a real scourge, and the fight against it a real struggle.

All content and envelope filtering solutions are merely reactive solutions to the problem of spam. They work at a given point in time, but remain incapable of evolving ahead of the spammers, in much the same way as anti-virus tools. If anti-spam tools are as effective as some publishers claim, why are there no contractual commitments on the detection and false-positive–performance of these products? Obviously, because the performance rates announced are only valid at a given moment, in a very specific context. But to say that these techniques and tools are useless is a little presumptuous. Indeed, what other means do end-users have at their disposal to avoid being overwhelmed by the scourge of spam these days? Obviously, this type of tool needs to be combined with good...