Exchange Anti-Spam Toolkit – Web-based Anti-Spam Management Tool & URL/Domain Block Lists

Exchange Anti-Spam Toolkit allows you to take control of anti-spam functionality in Microsoft Exchange 2019, 2016 & 2013. Exchange Anti-Spam Toolkit provides a web-based graphical user interface (GUI) to enable all aspects of anti-spam functionality in Exchange to be easily managed, even on Mailbox (previously known as Hub Transport) servers. It additionally provides support for URL or Domain-based Block Lists (also known as URI DNSBL or SURBL) and Sender Score filtering capabilities.

Managing anti-spam functionality in Exchange 2019, 2016 and 2013 can be complex as it must be done using PowerShell. Recent Exchange versions lack a graphical user interface (GUI) for managing most anti-spam functionality. Exchange Anti-Spam Toolkit provides this missing functionality with a comprehensive web-based interface. This greatly simplifies anti-spam configuration and additionally provides detailed guidance for effectively filtering spam in Exchange.

URL or Domain-based Block Lists are an effective tool for filtering junk email which by inspection of the sender's domain name (not simply sending server IP address), as well as deep inspection of URLs contained within the message body. Unfortunately, Exchange lacks support for URL or Domain-based Block Lists (also known as URI DNSBL or SURBL). URL Block Lists are provided by Exchange Anti-Spam Toolkit and can be configured in a similar way to IP-based Block Lists.

Sender Score Block Lists, such as the Return Path Sender Score service, provide numerical scoring based on on IP addresses, not just allow/block listing. A minimum sender score can be defined in Exchange Anti-Spam Toolkit to enable message rejection based on sender scores, or messages can be simply tagged for further processing by Exchange Transport rules.

• Exchange 2019, 2016 and 2013 have quite comprehensive anti-spam functionality built-in. Unfortunately, it is disabled by default, and without an interface to manage it, anti-spam features are often left disabled by Exchange Administrators. It is also often mistakenly believed that anti-spam features are only supported on Edge servers.

• Exchange Anti-spam functionality which can be managed using the web-based interface includes:

  • IP Allow and Block List Providers (DNS-based)
  • IP Allow and Block Lists (manual)
  • Sender Reputation (EHLO/HELO analysis, reverse DNS validaton and open proxy validation)
  • Sender ID Validation (SPF validation)
  • Sender Address and Domain filtering
  • Content Filtering (including manual allowed and blocked phrases)
  • Recipient Filtering
  • Mailbox-level Allowed and Blocked sender addressess
  • Manual exceptions to Sender ID validation and IP Block List providers
• Exchange Anti-Spam Toolkit provides a comprehensive, easy-to-use web-based graphical interface which allows all aspects of Exchange anti-spam functionality to be easily managed.
• The web-based interface and documentation provide automatic validation and detailed configuration guidance to enable anti-spam filtering to be configured effectively.
• Exchange Anti-Spam Toolkit fills the gaps in Exchange Server's built-in anti-spam features by adding support for URL or Domain-based Block Lists and Sender Score Block Lists. As IPv6 usage increases, URL/Domain-based Block Lists will become more important as IP-based Block Lists are impractical with IPv6.
• Using the built-in tools in Exchange, troubleshooting anti-spam configuration is challenging. It is very difficult to answer the questions "why did this message get blocked?" or "why did this message get through?". Exchange Anti-Spam Toolkit provides a search tool which allows lookup by sender email address, IP address and domain name to quickly and accurately provide answers to both of these questions.

Exchange Anti-Spam Toolkit is an essential tool for all on-premises and hybrid Exchange environments.

Features

• Full Support for Exchange 2019, 2016 & 2013

  Exchange Anti-Spam Toolkit installs as a full 64-bit application and has been tested with the latest versions of Exchange.

• Support for Mailbox and Edge Servers

  All Anti-Spam functionality is supported on Mailbox servers (previously known as Hub Transport servers), with the exception of Recipient Filtering which requires an Edge server. An Exchange Edge server is not required. Both Mailbox and Edge servers are supported by Exchange Anti-Spam Toolkit.

• Anti-Spam Configuration Search Tool

  The Search tool allows administrators to easily test and troubleshoot the anti-spam configuration. It quickly provides information on whether a given email address, domain name or IP address are explicitly blocked or allowed. The search tool performs dynamic lookups on all Allow and Block List providers and also allows partial match searches.

• Remote Configuration Support

  The web-based configuration interface can be accessed remotely, similarly to the built-in Exchange Control Panel. Remote Desktop access to the Exchange Server is not required.

• Support for per-Mailbox Anti-Spam Settings

  Management of per-mailbox anti-spam settings in Exchange is often overlooked. Users can add addresses to their personal Safe Senders or Blocked Senders lists in via Junk Email options in Outlook. Exchange Anti-Spam Toolkit includes full support for managing these per-mailbox settings, and additionally the search tool includes per-user allow and block lists to enable efficient troubleshooting.

• Secure, Integrated & Robust

  The URL Block List and Sender Score Block List filters install as Transport Agents on the Exchange servers, in the same way as the built-in Exchange Transport Agents. This is the Microsoft-recommended architecture for such filtering and your existing mail flow and firewall configuration do not need to be altered. All mail processed by our Transport Agents is logged in the same format as other Exchange components.

Screenshots

• Easily view and update server-level block and allow lists.
  
• Sender ID Validation features are easily configured.
  
• Configuration of IP Block List Providers
  
• URL Block List Provider Configuration
  
• Search functionality allows easy testing and troubleshooting of anti-spam configuration.
  
• All aspects of the Content Filter can be managed using the web interface.
• Exchange Transport Agents can be viewed and managed using the graphical interface.
  

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