Enterprises can rely even less on mail server vendors like Lotus and Microsoft to prevent spam. It doesn’t make sense to expect server vendors to build spam filtering software into their products, primarily because spam is most efficiently and effectively licked at the gateway, not after it has entered the network at the server. Plus, running spam filtering rules on the user’s e-mail client drains the application of processing power. That’s why both Lotus and Microsoft leave filtering up to their partners and have no immediate plans to create products with robust spam filtering capabilities built in. "There’s not a great deal we’re doing in the core [Microsoft Exchange] product aside from the hooks we provide in the APIs for antispam vendors to use," says Jim Bernardo, product manager for Microsoft Exchange.

Can We Win This War?

The war on spam must be fought on several fronts. Litigation remains a viable, albeit costly, option, and many ISPs?most notably AOL?and several businesses have taken spammers to court.

Some states are trying to legislate the problem, and several, including California, Washington and Pennsylvania, have passed laws banning spam. The problem with local laws, according to industry observers, is that because spam is a global problem, a law in California won’t hold water when spam is generated in a foreign country.

But until that global law gets passed, or until the unauthenticated SMTP protocol that lets spammers get away with their lawless activities is overhauled, technical solutions like filters and RBLs, whether locally managed or outsourced, remain a CIO’s best bet in fighting spam.