How MailControl Works
The MailControl platform has been designed from the
outset to be extensible and highly scaleable
providing an infrastructure capable of supporting
millions of users.
MailControl services are delivered using a backbone
of MailControl relays hosted at secure data centres
across Europe. Each MailControl relay consists of
clusters of secured servers with advanced load
balancing capabilities that process, route and
filter email based on customer-defined policies.
The state of the art data centres housing the
MailControl relays, provide a physically secure
environment with fire suppression systems, redundant
power systems and multiple Internet connections. The
MailControl relays are also geographically disbursed
across Europe to ensure that a major catastrophe
effecting Internet availability within a country
does not dramatically affect the service.
Service Activation
The MailControl service is a fully managed solution.
This means there is no hardware or software
installed onsite - customers just subscribe via a
simple two-stage process:
Stage One – Enrolment
Stage Two – Mail Configuration
Enrolment
During the enrolment stage, customers are guided
through the creation of an email security policy
using the MailControl enrolment wizard, on the
secure MailControl web portal. This captures all the
information required to create a policy and deliver
the service.
This information is then vetted and validated by
BlackSpider’s security engineers. In addition the
customer’s email system is checked to ensure it is
secure and not acting as an ‘open relay’. Once the
security policy and the technical details have been
authorised, the MailControl service is activated and
is now ready to route and filter email based on the
customer’s security policy.
Mail Configuration
The second stage of enrolment is to configure the
customer’s email system to route all outbound and
inbound email via the MailControl relays. This
requires a simple configuration change to the DNS
server hosting the domain. (The DNS server will
often by hosted and maintained by the customers
ISP).
The Mail Exchange (MX) record for the domains to be
routed through MailControl needs to be changed to
include the IP addresses of the MailControl relays.
Each MailControl relay (a cluster of servers) is
seen as a single IP address, requiring only a small
number of IP addresses to be added. Once these
changes have been made and propagated across the
Internet (which typically takes 24 hours) all
inbound email will be routed through the MailControl
relays and scanned, based on the customer’s security
policy.
In order to route all outbound email via
MailControl, customers need to make a change to
their Internet Gateway on their email server. On
most email systems such as Lotus Notes or Microsoft
Exchange, this is achieved by a simple configuration
change. Detailed instructions can be found on the
MailControl Portal.
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MailControl relays themselves are highly
reliable; each individual server is
configured with RAID disks, multiple network
cards and redundant power supplies to ensure
maximum availability. BlackSpider
Technologies has partnered with Dell
Computer Corporation to provide hardware,
and with hosting company IX Europe for the
provision of data centre services.
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Customer
Control
Once enrolled in the service customers
retain full control through the secure
customer Portal. Using the portal customers
can add, modify and delete email security
policies, enabling them to control all
aspects of their email security.
Policies can be configured for a single
email domain, or for multiple domains. This
enables customers who have multiple email
domains to define and enforce company-wide
standards.
The MailControl Dashboard (accessed through
the portal) provides customers with a host
of management information, enabling them to
view the number of emails processed and
quarantined, as well as statistics on virus
and spam prevalence. The Dashboard also
provides an advanced search capability,
allowing customers to track the progress of
any individual message. Customers can
control and manage email that has been
quarantined by their security policy, using
the MailControl portal. Users can view,
release, delete and forward email messages
through the web interface.
A key feature of the MailControl portal is
the ability to allow the recipient or sender
of a blocked email to view the details of
the message and the reason why it failed the
policy. MailControl can be configured to
automatically send a notification email to
the recipient or sender containing a URL
which links them back to a page on the
portal containing the message details.
Using this facility, users are able to view
the email content, but are unable to
download attachments or release the message.
This approach can dramatically reduce the
interaction between a customer’s helpdesk
and end-users, improving staff productivity.
Service Management
Operational management of MailControl is
delivered from BlackSpider’s Network
Operation Centres based in Reading and
Heathrow, providing 24x7 protection.
BlackSpider Technologies has designed its
service delivery processes based on industry
best practice using guidelines laid down in
the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
framework. Adoption of this framework
enables BlackSpider to deliver the highest
possible standards of service delivery to
its customers.
Trained engineers staff the operations
centres. They are highly skilled in Internet
security and messaging technologies and
continuously manage the MailControl service
to ensure service level targets are
achieved. In addition the engineers spend
time engaged with the “Black Hat” hacking
community, monitoring various web sites and
news groups looking for new exploits or
virus techniques. Their expertise and skill
combined with MailControl technology ensures
customers are protected from the evolving
threats posed by Internet email.
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