Threat Protection
Frontgate acts as an application layer firewall that protects your email server from a variety of modern Internet threats
Directory Harvest Attacks
Directory harvesting takes advantage of the SMTP protocol in an attempt to steal the valid email addresses associated with an email server. Directory harvesting involves sending a flood of email messages to the most likely usernames of a domain. For example, all possible combinations of first initials followed by common surnames. The email server generally returns a "Recipient Unknown" reply message for all messages sent to a nonexistent address, but does not return a message for those sent to valid addresses. The harvesting program creates a database of all the valid email addresses at the server and they are sold to spammers worldwide. Frontgate can detect a Directory Harvest Attack based on the number of SMTP connections, RCPT commands or recipient errors that occur during a mail session. Once a Directory Harvest Attack is detected, Frontgate closes the connection and bans the offending host from further activity.
Denial of Service Attacks
A Denial of Service (DoS) attack is a method hackers use to prevent or deny legitimate users access to a computer. DoS attacks are typically executed using special tools that send many data packets to a targeted mail server, flooding its resources and making the system unusable. Any system that is connected to the Internet is subject to a DoS attack. Frontgate utilizes redundant, geographically isolated, mail gateways to prevent a Dos attack from disrupting our services. To interrupt the flow of email, an attacker would have to simultaneously cripple multiple servers at several geographic locations.
Server Vulnerabilities
Every server that is exposed to the Internet is vulnerable to Operating System and Application vulnerabilities. Since all your email will be coming from Frontgate, you can close your server to all other inbound connections and enjoy an even greater level of protection.
For more information about Frontgate's email protection services, contact us at 1-800-381-3445, or via email at sales@frontgatecorp.com.