Lotus Protector for Mail Security and Notes 8.5.1 are coming together

October 1 2009

Been focused most of the day on getting the final details in place for the Notes/Domino 8.5.1 launch.  In the process, one of the interesting bits of product information I came across was the scoop on how Lotus Protector for Mail Security 2.5 has some nice integration with the Notes 8.5.1 client.  Specifically, starting in Notes 8.5.1, there's direct wiring between an end-user's mailbox and the Protector spam filtering:

A convenient new button on the Lotus Notes 8.5.1 action bar instructs the Lotus Protector for Mail Security gateway to block all future email from the sender of a selected email in the inbox.  Users can also quickly and easily recover inadvertently quarantined email. A new view in the Lotus Notes 8.5.1 inbox displays content sent to them, but blocked and stored at the Lotus Protector for Mail Security gateway.  Blocked messages can either be forwarded to their inbox, or deleted right at the gateway, saving time for both users and administrators.  Users can specify the senders for which the Lotus Protector for Mail Security gateway will either send to their inbox, or block from delivery.

Block sender from Notes inbox
Linked value across Protector and Notes/Domino is just one new aspect to Protector 2.5 -- there is new zero level analysis antispam technology, new hardware configurations, and significant improvement to system performance.  All adds up to a nice story for anti-spam and anti-virus.

Link: Lotus Protector -- Lotus Notes 8.5.1 integration >

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Lotus Protector  Add/View Comments [18]

Post a Comment

  1. 1  Bill Geimer  | 10/1/2009 10:59:14 PM

    Ed, nice feature. One click approach is cool. Will this work across all versions of the 8.5.1 client?

  1. 2  Vincent VALENTIN  | 10/2/2009 2:01:00 AM

    Can this be desactivated if we don't have/want to used Lotus Protector for Mail Security (ini settings, preferences, policy, ...) ?

  1. 3  Detlev Poettgen http://www.netzgoetter.net | 10/2/2009 2:51:21 AM

    @Bill:

    The Protector Integration is part of the standard mail85.ntf and should work on Macs an Linux,too.

    @Vincent:

    The feature is being controlled by one notes.ini entry. If the entry does not exist the Spam Protection outline entry and the Spam Block Sender action will be hidden.

    You can deploy the notes.ini entry by using a desktop policy setting.

  1. 4  Keith Collyer  | 10/2/2009 2:54:26 AM

    As I commented on the Notes Design blog, I have to say this is a waste of time. No spammer will reuse addresses, so genuine spam (oxymoron?) will never come twice from the same address. I haven't used sender filtering in years, if content filters don't catch the spam, this won't.

    On the other hand, it won't do any harm and may have a useful placebo effect ;-)

  1. 5  Andy Mell  | 10/2/2009 3:50:55 AM

    (Hi Keith! Its been a few years!)

    I also agree this is a waste of time as spam addresses are never reused.

    What would be much more useful is a Junk Mail 'view' showing the messages that are in quarantine on the spam appliance, and allowing users to whitelist senders. In addition there should be a way to change your spam thresholds from the Notes client.

  1. 6  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/2/2009 3:54:53 AM

    Ummm, there is that view, where you can whitelist senders or block senders. Click through the link to ibm.com and you can see the screenshots.

  1. 7  Andre Berzt  | 10/2/2009 4:07:40 AM

    @Poettgen

    Which entry is this? I would like to deploy it so that nobody "see" this button...

  1. 8  Keith Collyer  | 10/2/2009 4:09:29 AM

    Actually, the integration and whitelisting could be very useful. I wasn't criticizing that at all, though on re-reading it does look as if I was. In my defence, blacklisting senders seems to be the single thing that is being emphasized, and that is a waste of time.

  1. 9  Darren Duke http://blog.darrenduke.net | 10/2/2009 4:38:35 AM

    @8, I don't agree (and disclaimer, I an a BP, reseller and was on the closed beta). Spam will be stopped at the Protector appliance, the "local blacklisting" feature is to allow users to control HAM, not SPAM. Things like mail lists, auto mailers from business processes, etc......things *you* may want to see, but you don't want clogging up your inbox.

    Our internal users *love* this as they can now release their own spam (and whitelist the sender) without any IT intervention....all this, right from the 8.5.1 client. I expect this will be take off once 8.5.1 ships and customers AV and spam comes up for renewal.

    Lotus (now) knows spam!

  1. 10  Sean Cull http://www.seancull.co.uk | 10/2/2009 5:37:54 AM

    anyone know what is the minimum ( virtual ) hardware spec this can be run on for a small shop ?

    I know that the full "economy" spec is 3GB but will it run on a 512k virtual machine for a small ( 10 user ) shop, the purpose being to run it on a robust co-located "hub" server rather than back in a branch office on less reliable broadband.

    Alternatively is there a robust way to have the robust co-located domino server accept SMTP mail and pass that onto the protector server ( on a less robust broadband line ) before it goes to users - so in a broadband outage mail would get queued on the co-located server ?

    Ed, sorry for getting so specific and geeky with you announcement !

    Thanks, Sean

  1. 11  Darren Duke http://blog.darrenduke.net | 10/2/2009 7:13:31 AM

    @10, it is SLES Linux, so I would presume it would work in 512K, although you may see a lot of disk swapping (not good on a VM). Only tests will tell. If you could give it 1024K you'd be fine, we ran out entire beta in 1024K and never had any issues.

    For the second point, yes, Protector can be set up that way. It can relay from any address (public or private) that you deem worthy.

  1. 12  Nathan T. Freeman http://nathan.lotus911.com | 10/2/2009 7:16:09 AM

    @11 - I imagine you mean "M" instead of "K" in all those. I think we got past the need for EMM.exe a long time ago.

  1. 13  Nico Prenzel http://www.pn-systeme.de | 10/2/2009 9:42:58 AM

    @10, perhaps you want to give my DSC-Suite a try.

    Of, course it's a free Anti-Spam domino solution.

    It's an interface to the SpamAssassin open source project. As spam/ham filtering is done by SpamAssassins daemon on another (small) linux box, your existing Domino box won't be mentionable affected.

    The configuration database could be found at OpenNTF:

    { Link }

    The Domino binaries (currently only Win32) are located at my homepage:

    { Link }

  1. 14  Kamal   | 10/2/2009 1:06:35 PM

    Some more press for Lotus Live @ Gigaom.

    Look Who’s Launching an Email Service

    { Link }

  1. 15  Mary Beth Raven http://www.notesdesignblog.com | 10/2/2009 1:09:48 PM

    A few more details about protector integration over on my blog { Link }

  1. 16  Arthur Fontaine  | 10/2/2009 4:15:43 PM

    @8 -- Keith, the feature can be best explained by contrasting "objective" ("real") spam and "subjective" spam -- things that end up in your inbox because they're from legitimate or semi-legitimate senders, stuff like newsletters, ads, seminar invites, etc. These are trickier and most filters let it through, simply because one person may find it valuable even if another finds it annoying. The simple ability to block this content lowers the noise ratio substantially and raises productivity. Very simple concept, but once you have this feature you'll wonder how you lived without it.

    (from Mary Beth's blog entry)

  1. 17  FIrezombie  | 9/22/2010 8:17:09 AM

    We are on Lotus Notes 8.5.1 The "block sender" ssems not to be working for one individual with some of his emails on his blocked list. It is spelled correctly on his blocked list. Is it possible that if he shares his email database (calendar, email, etc) it could get compromised? Should I be looking at other settings? I don't know too much about this product so be gentle, thx :)