Mailborder Systems

What is Mailborder?
Mailborder is an advanced spam and virus protection service for any organization with its own email servers. Mailborder acts as a virtual shield between your organization's email systems and the Internet ensuring that the only email you receive is legitimate.

Can I purchase my own Mailborder System instead of using your service?
No. However, we can design a solution that is only used by your organization.

Can I replace my Exchange mail server with Mailborder?
No. Mailborder is a gateway system for processing email and not a server designed to accept client connections.

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How reliable is Mailborder?
Mailborder is a redundant mail gateway system. This means that you get three Mailborder systems to process your mail. If one systems fails, the others automatically take over providing you with zero interruption in email services. In two years of operating Mailborder Systems we have maintained 100% uptime with no email loss.

Is it possible to lose email?
In the event of a system failure of one of your Mailborder systems the only email that will be lost is email currently being processed. This may result in the loss of literally 1 or 2 emails. Once a primary system fails, the secondary Mailborder assigned to you automatically takes over. After that no loss will occur. If a system fails you will be notified so that you can be reassigned another server. This will NOT cause you to lose any email.

What technology does Mailborder use?
Mailborder is a Linux based server system running two major antivirus vendor's virus detection systems that are updated every hour. Spamassassin is used as the base spam detection engine but other engines are used in conjunction as well.

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Can I use Mailborder without my own organizational email server?
No. Mailborder is a gateway system. It processes your email for spam, viruses, and dangerous content. After that, the mail must be delivered to an organizational mail server.

Can I use Mailborder with my Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, etc. service?
Sorry, no.

Can you help me setup my DNS?
Yes. We will work with you if you are not absolutely sure how to make the required DNS changes. However, with the infinite number of providers and systems out there, the best person to help you with this is your provider.

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Can you help me setup my firewall?
Yes. We will work with you if you are not absolutely sure how to make the required firewall changes if you decide to implement this. (This is optional.) We have engineers that are experts on firewall technology. However, with the large number of available firewall products out there, the first place you should start your research is with your firewall vendor's support documentation.

Is there any hardware or software involved?
No. The only thing required is a few configuration changes to your existing equipment. The entire process would take a competent administrator less than 15 minutes.

Do I have to hire someone to run my Mailborder service?
No. Mailborder is pretty much a "fire and forget" service. It is run by Mailborder staff and typically requires nothing from you once it is in place. The only interaction you will prboably have is releasing quarantined email (if desired) and using the flash graph features Mailborder provides.

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What if I change IP addresses on my mail servers?
You can update your IP address in your Control Panel. Propagation takes one to two hours. You will not lose any email. all email will be held until it can be delivered to your new address.

How can I pay for Mailborder?
Mailborder is billed monthly. You can setup a reoccurring bill that will automatically process each month and send you an invoice. 2Checout.com handles all transactions for Mailborder Systems. We hold no financial data and we are in full compliance with mandates like SOX.

Does digitally signed email work?
Yes. Both clear text and opaque signed emails can be successfully processed. No signatures or content will be broken by the system. This includes both PGP and PKI technologies.

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Does encrypted email work?
Yes. The email will be processed and delivered. However, since the email is encrypted, the S/MIME attachment cannot be opened and processed. Technically it is possible to encrypt a virus and send it. This would require the "bad guy" to have your public key and email address. To date we have never seen this happen. There are currently no known viruses with this capability.

Do password protected files work (i.e. zip files)?
Yes. However, a file such as a password protected zip cannot be opened and scanned for viruses. (By any email system.) This is why it is extremely important to have client virus scanners installed. You can also chose to not allow encrypted zip files.

Does Mailborder compromise privacy?
No. Email passing through Mailborder systems is strictly guarded and never examined beyond the spam, virus, header, and dangerous content checks. No human will ever see your email. The contents or attachments will also never be examined by anyone.

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Does Mailborder record information about my emails?
The only information recorded is some header values. This is used by Mailborder Systems to keep track of the volume of mail and to process statistics for you. This information does NOT provide Mailborder Systems with any content information. Your privacy rights are strictly preserved. The information recorded is also used by you in your control panel to monitor your own email volume and to see what is being caught as spam.