Types Of Anti-Spam Filters And How They Work

The majority of the internet bombards begin with an email. To get an idea of how important it is to talk about email security a report of 2018 revealed that nine out of every ten infection attempts using malware on the web happen via email. What is one of the main tools used by cybercriminals to spread malware and other types of threats? If you assumed about spam campaigns, you got it right.

You should be alert and prepared to fight different types of threats. In a company’s case, an infection or data breach can cause huge losses. It is also said that getting large numbers of junk emails ends up directly interposing with the productivity and growth of the team, who spend a lot of time communicating with useless and even nasty messages.

Furthermore, a question arises in every business owner's mind that how to protect yourself and protect your business? This is where a junk mail filter solution comes in handy. They make the first line of defense against unwanted emails. There are two main categories of filters: content-based filters and list-based filters.

Email Spam Filtering: An Implementation with Python and Scikit-learn - KDnuggets

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Anti-spam filter based on content and technical aspects:

There is a type of spam filtering technique and analysis that is based on the content and technical aspects of an email. In these cases, artificial intelligence and machine learning work with rules and policies to check emails and then define whether the messages will be labeled as spam or not. Some of the filters that come in this category are:

  • Word filter
  • Heuristic filter
  • Bayesian filter

Anti-spam filter based on lists:

As the name implies, list-based filters basically work with blacklists and whitelists, allowing or not the delivery of emails sent from a specific sender.

  • Blacklist filter
  • Whitelist filter
  • Greylist filter