The most common questions about the SonServer Email Defense service are listed below, click on a question to view the answer.

• What is MX Logic?
  
• Does the Email Defense Service decrease the security of our email?
  
• What is an MX record?
  
• If it is required that we point our MX record to the Email Defense Service, does this mean you will have access to our email?
  
• Do we lose control of our MX record when we point it to the Email Defense Service?
  
• Will our email be stored on the Email Defense Service servers?
  
• Does the Email Defense Service filtering work when I send mail or only when I receive it?
  
• Does MX Logic’s Email Defense Service filter email internal to our network?
  
• How do I know what mail has been blocked as spam?
  
• Is there a risk that legitimate email sent to our company will accidentally be blocked?
  
• Do I need a password to view messages blocked as spam?
  
• How does MX Logic identify and block spammer attacks? Do you have a team dedicated to monitoring and protecting against spammer and worm attacks?
  
• Does the Email Defense Service compromise privacy?

What is MX Logic?
MX Logic is an advanced email protection and security solution named the Email Defense Service, which safeguards email from spam, viruses, worms, email attacks, malicious content and other email threats.

Does the Email Defense Service decrease the security of our email?
No. On average, a single email experiences 7–10 “hops” (the number of routers through which it is sent) as it travels from sender to recipient. The Email Defense Service becomes the final “hop” in the journey. But even by adding this extra “hop,” you are introducing no additional insecurity to the process of sending or receiving email. In fact, while the Email Defense Service acts like any other router in the transmission process, it actually adds a layer of security to your email by shielding your MX record from the Internet, where it may otherwise be accessible by spammers and hackers.

What is an MX record?
A Mail Exchange record, or MX record, is an entry in a domain-name database that identifies the mail server responsible for handling email for that domain. In other words, your MX record is like your primary postal address, to which all of your mail is sent. When you use the Email Defense Service, you change your MX record to make the address of Email Defense Service your primary address so all email from the outside is sent to Email Defense first. This conceals your Internet-facing mail servers and gateways and protects you from attack. The Email Defense Service then filters your email as it is redirected to your true address.

If it is required that we point our MX record to the Email Defense Service, does this mean you will have access to our email?
No. While MX Logic’s filters do comprise the final “hop” a message takes en route to your network, we do not have the capabilities to intercept or review email. The Email Defense Service message processing centers, which becomes your primary MX record, act as proxies when receiving your inbound email. Messages are filtered in real-time as they are being simultaneously delivered into your messaging environment. Because MX Logic’s service is proxy-based, your messages are not stored to disk in order to be filtered, where they can be lost if the disk is damaged or corrupted (this can occur with solutions that use store-and-forward technology). In fact, MX Logic’s technology introduces more security by cloaking the location of your messaging servers and removing anonymous SMTP connections.

Do we lose control of our MX record when we point it to the Email Defense Service?
No. The MX record remains in your control. At anytime your MX record may be configured to point back to your messaging infrastructure. You may also lower your MX record’s time-to-live (TTL) to increase propagation times.

Will our email be stored on the Email Defense Service servers?
Unlike a number of companies, MX Logic does not use a “store and forward” process for filtering messages. Therefore the Email Defense Service does not accept your email, store it on servers, scan it, and then send it on (“store and forward”). Instead, MX Logic’s proxy-based method filters email real-time “on the stream”. Legitimate emails are never written to any media unless our customer requests it. In fact, MX Logic handles all mail processing via memory and only stores quarantined mail to hard disk.

Does the Email Defense Service filtering work when I send mail or only when I receive it?
Email Defense Service filtering only works on inbound messages.

Does MX Logic’s Email Defense Service filter email internal to our network?
As a proxy-based managed service, the Email Defense Service currently does not offer filtering for email sent within an internal messaging network (intranet).

How do I know what mail has been blocked as spam?
End users receive a Spam Quarantine Report in their inbox that contains a link to their quarantine. This notification allows them to access blocked messages and restore messages from quarantine, if desired, and easily configure the system to allow those types of email in the future.

Is there a risk that legitimate email sent to our company will accidentally be blocked?
MX Logic’s multi-layered Stacked Classification FrameworkSM provides over 98% filtering accuracy and an industry-leading low false positive rate (legitimate email incorrectly marked as spam). In the rare event of a false positive, the Email Defense Service provides each end-user with a daily Spam Quarantine Report that enables end-users to locate any legitimate emails, release them to their inbox, and ensure that those messages are not blocked in the future. Furthermore, to enable certain types of content and attachments to pass through MX Logic’s filters, any allow lists, deny lists, or keyword lists that have been developed specifically by Email Defense Service customers can be uploaded to the Email Defense Service Portal to enable customized, regulation-compliant message filtering.

Do I need a password to view messages blocked as spam?
No. You can directly access and view spam through the Spam Quarantine Report that is emailed to your inbox.

How does MX Logic identify and block spammer attacks? Do you have a team dedicated to monitoring and protecting against spammer and worm attacks?
MX Logic has the industry’s foremost experts on messaging and has leveraged that expertise in their Email Defense Threat Management Center—MX Logic’s around-the-clock email threat monitoring center. The Threat Management team is continuously watching the flow of email through our system for new spammer techniques, DoS attacks, viruses, worms, or any other threat that can enter and harm a customer’s network.

Does the Email Defense Service compromise privacy?
Email Defense Service takes the security and privacy of user data seriously. Messages are filtered in real-time as they are being simultaneously delivered into your messaging environment. Because MX Logic’s service is proxy-based, your messages are not stored to disk in order to be filtered, where they can be lost if the disk is damaged or corrupted nor can they be read.