VANQUISH PERSONAL ANTI-SPAM
http://www.vanquish.com
Reviewed February 2007
 

What’s it do?

Vanquish Personal Anti-Spam claims to stop email spam, viruses, and identity theft attempts; provide confirmed message delivery; optional Webmail access; online calendar; and, five separate email boxes.


Does it Do What It Promises?

Reviewer 1: Yes.  I set up an account on Vanquish’s server and had my email forwarded to that server.  Vanquish successfully kept spam out of my Inbox and prevented me from receiving virus-carrying email.

Reviewer 2:  Yes.  Vanquish Personal Anti-Spam, keeps your inbox free of unwanted mail by accepting messages only from approved senders using a challenge/response process.

Reviewer 3:  Yes. I was not at all disappointed. In fact, it proved to be even more than I originally gleaned from the benefits listing. It is a very complete program, providing a an extremely effective and efficient way to all but eliminate spam without much of the fuss and muss of many others. It took me a while to learn the intricacies, but once done, the Vanquish performed beautifully. Unlike most anti-spam applications, you needn't bother with establishing white lists, blacklists, filters and the like, rather, it is a challenge-based system, allowing through only those you designate and either challenging, listing for consideration or rejecting others.

Reviewer 4:  This is a program that I approached with some degree of nervousness. Like many people, in addition to personal use, email is important to the work that I do. I have a very good ISP, which already filters out a large amount of the spam that I used to receive. So spam, although irritating, is not as serious a problem as it may be for many others. I was hesitant to completely hand over all my email, and my email addresses, to a service that I do not know, and that could possibly "mine" it for their own purposes or use it for other nefarious reasons. So I have approached this project with considerable caution. After some months of using the service, I have found no reason at all to support my original suspicions, or to doubt their commitment to protecting the privacy of my correspondence. On top of that, it does weed out spam, viruses and "phishing" scams. However, I have also had some recent evidence that messages that should be delivered to me have either been returned to the sender, or have not got through at all. So, unfortunately, vqME  seems not only to clear out spam, but also legitimate email as well


Was It Easy To Install?

Reviewer 1: No. I use Mulberry as my primary email client. I spent many hours before I could get Vanquish to work with Mulberry. Vanquish's Install Wizard erroneously reported that "the default mail client is not properly installed," so I couldn't use the Install Wizard and had to proceed manually. When I tried to import my Mulberry address book, an error message informed me "MAPI not supported for Mulberry," even though the Mulberry Web site says that "Mulberry now automatically sets up MAPI support." I was informed that Vanquish was protecting an email account I didn't want protected. A day later, I found that someone at Vanquish had mistakenly removed the address I did want Vanquish to protect. After several emails and phone calls, these problems were resolved. Though my account was now in place, I was still unable to use Mulberry to send messages from that account. Someone from tech support phoned and viewed my computer remotely in an unsuccessful attempt to solve this problem. Eventually, I realized that I hadn't specified a port number. I added the port number after the server address (which is not a method described in Vanquish's user's manual), and problems were resolved.

Reviewer 2: Other than the option of downloading and installing an optional "Tray Assistant" which simply serves as not unlike a quick launch to your Vanquish account, there is really no installation required if using a Windows-based operating system. You simply sign up for the services much like you would any Web-based email client. However, setting up and configuring was confusing and difficult. There are downloadable PDF help files available and they are needed, and even then it takes a while to interpret what I call "geek speak."

Reviewer 3: There were no problems with either download or installation. You should note though, that it need not be installed at all. You may access it online, from anywhere, as you would any Web-based browser, and it is fully functional used as such.

Reviewer 4: If you are not using a Windows-based system, there is practically no installation required. You simply sign up for their service as you would with any other web-based email service, such as Gmail, Yahoo mail, Fastmail, Hotmail and many others. Users of Linux, Macintosh and any other system, including handhelds, cell-phones and other mobile devices (although I could not test the mobile systems) can use Vanquish as a regular email system, with strong anti-spam functions built into it. For Windows, you have the option of downloading a small "Tray Assistant", which facilitates access to your Vanquish account. You also set up your regular email provider to forward the mail that comes into that account to Vanquish, so that it can be examined for spam, and be available to you as spam-free correspondence. Although it is not particularly difficult, I had to take some time in setting this up.. I needed to know how my ISP has set up my mail system, the details of my own email client's set-up, and from the User Guide, I had to learn the particular vocabulary of Vanquish, and how it functions.


Good points.

Reviewer 1: Vanquish takes a different approach from most anti-spam programs. Instead of trying to identify what is spam (an exceedingly difficult task, with spammers often a step ahead of blockers), Vanquish blocks all mail but sets up an elaborate and for the most part sensible system for allowing the mail you want to arrive in your Inbox. Their system goes far beyond a simple whitelist. It "allows" mail not just from the people in your addressbook but also anyone who responds to a message you've sent, senders who have agreed to a financial bond, and unknown senders who respond to Vanquish's request that they confirm their message. It also allows any message whose subject header matches recent mail sent and mail from sites at which you recently made a purchase or at which you typed a password or other data into an online form (currently, these last two features work only with Internet Explorer). Entire domains can be blocked or allowed and subdomains treated differently. Also, Vanquish's handling of listservs skillfully takes into account the fact that the "from" address may not be a useful way to identify listserv mail. A web mail interface allows access of mail from any computer. All mail that does not meet the "allowed" criteria is stored in a Held Mail file, previewed, and moved to the Inbox if not spam. Vanquish warns of a message containing a virus and will not allow the message to be transferred. Vanquish's tech support is another strong point. The staff normally responds promptly to queries (usually the same day), and for the first 180 days they provide telephone support as well. There is also a moderately active User's Forum in which the tech support staff participates.

Reviewer 2: Very few in my opinion and even those are offset by serious problems. Vanquish uses yet one more evolution in what is known as the challenge/response system of email filtering wherein an unknown sender must reply to as response challenge before you can receive that email. In order for this to succeed you must be willing to have all of your email forwarded to the company's servers where it is placed in a "held box" examined and tested for authenticity-in part based on whitelists you create and/or by furnishing the company your address book so that it may create an Allowed List of senders that can get through without a challenge. It is also possible for new senders to buy their way into your inbox through a cash guarantee "bonded message" which if you then perceive to be spam you receive the cash. There are multiple levels of filtering and an innovative idea called "Surfmatch" (which allows Web sites you have recently visited to get through) all which can be applied to up to five email accounts. All mail is scanned for viruses and known phishing attempts.

Reviewer 3: This is a feature rich program, with all elements, once understood, fitting together seamlessly. Although my email program (incredimail) was not listed as compatible, it indeed was, and the configuration was a snap. I am able to review questionable emails at the Vanquish server before they download to my system. Therefore, I can intelligently deal with them before they might cause harm. If I agree to download them, Vanquish has a clam-based scan to detect and reject mail with viruses and fraud (phishing) filter. The sender is notified of this action and can still access the email if desired. Acceptable mail can be defined by uploading the address book, saving a great deal of time and ensuring accuracy. Automatically added as accepted are those emails accepted in the past (definable by individual address or domain; mail from Web sites from whom you've ordered goods (for a specified time - default is 3 days - but only with Internet Explorer); if you so choose, this can be selectively expanded to other sites you've visited. The program also learns usage habits, along with the use of Bayesian filter, adding to the allowable list if you empower it to do so; a one-time challenge system; and subject matching and "bonded" mail . Email "bonding is unique to Vanquish as far as I know, but may ultimately become one of the most-used filtering tools for anti-spam. A bonded email carries with it a guarantee that the receiver will find it acceptable and not find it necessary to bounce it back to the sender. The sender has posted a prepaid bond which will be forfeited to the receiver if the email is bounced back. At Vanquish, the bond is five cents, a pittance but no mass spammer would ever be able to afford such a tariff. After several successful bonded transactions, the sender becomes "trusted" and is no longer required to post bond unless subsequent problems arise. I originally set up POP3 accounts to gather mail from my accounts, , but found with time, and urging from Vanquish, that forwarding of email is the much better procedure. With POP3, I was forever experiencing delays and in fact was contributing to the demands on the Vanquish system, which had to go on constant searches looking to see if any email had arrived. Management of assigning mail to and within the various categories becomes understandable and very easy to use after a time. Everything is laid out logically, and every combination and permutation of circumstances has apparently been identified and dealt with. I marvel at the intricate situations that were anticipated and the ease by which they are/can be dealt with. Color-coded striping provides a quick visual assist, and changes can be effected right there. Each user is allowed five email accounts and ample storage to accommodate most family situations, perhaps even small business applications. Vanquish provides an interactive tutorial as well as an active user forum. Live email help is provided during business hours (and sometimes beyond). Turnaround time has been minutes to 1+ days, usually just several hours with informed and accurate help. There is a 30-day guarantee, giving a user ample time to learn and use the program to its full capabilities.

Reviewer 4: The usual anti-spam tools with which I have previously had experience work on two basic principles: sorting mail by user-defined "white-lists" and "black-lists", or by user-defined "filters." When I first start with a new program, I have to check and make corrections, the program "learns", it makes fewer and fewer mistakes and eventually I have less checking to do. But spammers have become increasingly sophisticated, so it actually remains a problem, no matter how well my anti-spam program is working. Vanquish is unique in that it is a complete system dedicated to weeding out the spam, "phishing" scams and viruses from your email. If you are using the program as a Web service, and/or if you are directing your email from your ISP's mail system to Vanquish, it is doing all its work on its servers, and before it arrives via your email client on your computer. With the exception of MailWasher, all the other anti-spam programs that I have seen do their work on my computer, i.e. the email comes to my machine, and all the processing is done "here." I really prefer, as much as possible, to keep spam, "phishing" scams and viruses away from my own computer. Unlike any other program that I have seen, Vanquish makes use of your email address list (if you decide to let it do so) and "allows" any email through to the inbox (still on the Vanquish server) that comes from an address in your email address list. When you are setting up, it will find the "address book" of the usual culprits: Outlook, OE, etc. If your email client is not one of those, you can follow the procedure described in the Users Forum under "Loading the Allow List." Once an email message has made it to your inbox, it will be "stamped" with a "Control Stripe," giving an easy method to allow or disallow the sender.


Weak points.

Reviewer 1: Vanquish's Install Wizard could not handle my email client, and the documentation provided for a manual installation proved to be inadequate. It would have been helpful had the Help file or User's Manual discussed various ways to specify the port number to use with Vanquish's SMTP server. The Help file and User's Manual should also have described different ways to import one's address book. (Someone from tech support finally imported my address book manually.) Vanquish's filter system also didn't work well for me. Vanquish's system works by consigning to "Held Mail" all messages except those that have passed one of a number of legitimacy tests. The company assumes that after a short while, the user will not have to look at the Held Mail file. This was not true for me. I often get more than a hundred spam messages each day, and I also frequently receive legitimate messages from unanticipated addresses. Many times a day I had to wade through well over a hundred Held Mail messages looking for those few that were legitimate. Vanquish assumes that all non-spammers will quickly respond to a confirmation request, thereby moving their messages from Held Mail to my Inbox. In my experience, some people did not respond and others failed to do so in a timely manner. I also found that some spammers responded to confirmation requests. The confirmation system raises other issues as well. One is that any confirmation request lets spammers know that they have reached a live email address, which they can then use and/or sell. Also, Vanquish's confirmation process uses words embedded in a grid (a system known as "captcha"), making them hard for any machine to read but supposedly posing no problem for human beings. But I saw no provision made for people who are visually handicapped and use a voice reader for their email. I also found it difficult with Vanquish to identify real messages from Pay Pal, eBay, Amazon.com, etc. Most messages purporting to be from these companies are fraudulent. Before I used Vanquish, I had created procmail filters on the server that identified almost all these fraudulent messages and prevented them from reaching my account. On the whole, only legitimate messages from these companies got to my Inbox. With Vanquish, however, I found no way to identify real messages from, say, Pay Pal except by tediously examining each of the 50 or so messages in my Held Mail file that claimed to be from paypal.com. (It turns out that buried in the User's Forum is a suggestion from Vanquish that you deal with this issue by setting up different special addresses that you use only for companies with whom you do business, and you arrange for Vanquish to "allow" mail to those addresses. It's not clear to me that my ISP would permit me to have these extra addresses, but in any case this suggestion should have been included in the Help file and/or User's Manual, not buried deep within the User's Forum.) One other aspect of Vanquish that I dislike is that it puts all my mail into one Inbox. I am accustomed to filtering my mail into a variety of different Inboxes on the IMAP server. For example, each listserv to which I subscribe has its own Inbox, so I never mistake listserv mail for a private message and send an embarrassing response to the listserv. All told, I have 15-20 separate Inboxes for different kinds of mail. I asked the Vanquish tech support whether something similar was possible on their servers. I was told it was not, unless I switched to their more expensive business software and owned my own domain name. Perhaps if I downloaded all my mail to my computer and read it offline, I could set up filters to reproduce the multiple Inboxes I have on the server. Since I prefer to read my mail online, however, Vanquish's setup doesn't work well for me.

Reviewer 2: While you will see your amount of spam dwindle to zero (or virtually zero) immediately, what you may not know is how many other emails dwindled to zero that you might have wanted. The main problem with any challenge/response system is that your legitimate email correspondents are getting challenges, may get annoyed and/or confused, and may simply give up writing to you out of sheer frustration. Additionally, spam that fakes other, innocent third party addresses as the sender, will create challenges being sent to innocent uninvolved parties and thus place you in the position of actually creating spam as a part of your attempts to reduce your own spam. In short, in all challenge/response type email filtering system-as effective as they can be-certainly are an inconvenience and impinge on the rights of other users, and not just spammers. Let me give you an example of the problems I have described. Let's say that "John" sends an email to "Mike," who uses a challenge/response system like Vanquish. Since "John's" address is possibly not yet on "Mike's" whitelist, "John" will get a challenge trying to verify that he is "human" and not simply some piece of bulk mail software. So "John" responds to the challenge and once Vanquish sees what it considers a valid response, delivers "John's" email to "Mike." Sounds good, if a bit annoying so far, but consider: "Bob" sends spam or a virus to "Mike," abusing "John's" address as the sender address. Vanquish sends an email to "John" who has no idea what is going on. If "John" does not reply, however, he won't find out why he has received the challenge/response mail, because in order to ask "Mike," he has to get on "Mike's" whitelist. In fact, "Mike" won't see the reason for the challenge/response email to "John" either until "John" has confirmed his address. If "John" ignores the challenge his address may even get blacklisted by "Mike," so he can never contact him. On the other hand, if "John" does successfully respond to the challenge, he will have permitted spam or a virus mail to be delivered to "Mike." This is just one of the many problems using a challenge/response system such as Vanquish. And to carry this to the absurd, suppose both "John" and "Mike" are both using a challenge/response type of mail filtering system such as Vanquish, and neither is on the other's whitelist. Who solves whose challenge first? "John" and "Mike" may never be able to communicate! In short, if a sender does not respond to the challenge sent by, in this instance Vanquish, you never see the original message. Now those are general problems that apply to all challenge/response type mail filtering systems. As to Vanquish specifically, Vanquish's 20MB of storage for each mailbox is simply impractical when most of today's free Web-based email clients are offering storage in the gigabyte range. Also, whether you use Web mail or not, you can't always view the contents of messages in the Held box waiting a response to the sent challenge. So, again, if there is no response to the challenge sent, you may never know the contents of what mail you did not receive. If you have any time-sensitive mail, you will find this program unusable as there are some serious latency issues with mail often taking a while to get through. In testing mail sent out with copies to me using both Vanquish and without Vanquish, the mail I sent not using Vanquish was received in less than twenty seconds while that same mail sent through Vanquish took from two to three hours to be delivered. Support was adequate and relatively timely but, with "geek speak", often far too technically focused for the average user. While there are email and live chat support options available, the touted telephone support is not toll free. Registered users only receive free telephone support for 180 days. This is totally unacceptable as is the sparse 15-day trial period.

Reviewer 3: There definitely is a learning curve, but with time can be surmounted in my estimation by all intermediate users. Some features are only accessible on Internet Explorer. I experienced several long delays (more than one day) in receiving my email. Server down times for maintenance often far exceeded planned durations. These delays can create mayhem in a business setting. All mail, sensitive, very personal, or not, passes through the Vanquish server. This should not be considered risky, since email is usually passed through any number of unknown servers at it is. Support could be improved. I was unable to track complete threads of my support correspondence and there were unresolved issues lack of response.

Reviewer 4: Some messages sent to me have not made it through the Vanquish server, and into my mailbox at all. In one case, where I began suspecting difficulties, I requested the sender to copy the messages to a different email address that is not connected to my Vanquish account. Messages are arriving at the alternative address, but are being bounced back to the sender with an error message. Since mail from that person had been arriving successfully - even earlier in the same day - it is not possible that I have changed any settings or parameters in the Vanquish account. In another case, I saw messages arrive in my regular ISP account. I did not retrieve them from there, so they were picked up by Vanquish, and subsequently vanished completely. Technical support is critical and needs to be provided on a 24/7 basis. Certain procedures that Vanquish uses can provoke some controversy. For example, Vanquish defaults to a process where certain messages provoke a response from Vanquish to send a "Confirmation" message to the sender. The sender will then have to reply saying that s/he really is a person, and the person that sent an email message to you. To some, confirmation messages are a form of spamming by itself. I also find the Control Stripe to be intrusive. It does have its advantages, but because it is inserted into your email message, it remains there if you reply to or forward the message to someone else.


Other comments.

Reviewer 1: A Vanquish representative made the following comment on the Vanquish user's forum: "If you must always look through your Held Mail for one or two important messages that were mislabeled as spam, then the entire system fails to provide value, because it is only moving the drudgery from your Inbox to your Held Mail folder." This pretty much describes my experience. I never got to the point where I didn't have to wade through the spam on my Held Mail file, looking for (and finding) legitimate messages. Vanquish ostensibly includes features (Personal Smart Filters and a Confirmation Sent column) that may address some of my concerns. However, these features have apparently been disabled.

Reviewer 2: There is nothing new in the challenge/response mail filtering system but every now and then it does seem to re-emerge as a new and re-invented program. And while Vanquish Personal Anti-Spam has tried to make some innovative changes to correct some of the inherent problems with challenge/response systems, the facts remain as: The intent of a practical anti-spam system is not to ensure, at all costs, that no spam should darken the reader's inbox at any cost. If that's the goal, then unplugging your computer is the simplest fix. At a practical level, the goal is to minimize the amount of spam received, while ensuring minimal legitimate mail is lost. Inconveniencing spammers is a plus. It is currently possible to achieve rates of a very small handful of spam messages per week via a mix of whitelisting and content-filtering systems, with Bayesian filters attaining very high and accurate rates. Effective spam management tools should place the burden either on the spammer, or, at the very least, on the person receiving the benefits of the filtering (the mail recipient). Instead, challenge-response puts the burden on, at best, a person not directly benefiting, and quite likely a completely innocent party. The one party who should be inconvenienced by spam consequences - the spammer - isn't affected at all. Finally, there is a serious privacy issue. A record of your correspondence is being maintained by a third party who has no business knowing of the transaction. Many people will refuse to respond to challenge/response requests for this reason. Virtually all challenge/response systems must be implemented on the mail server, putting critical information on the e-mail habits of both yourself and your correspondents in the hands of a third party.

Reviewer 3: I like this program a great deal and think it's very much on the right track: no predetermined lists, all not-previously-eliminated mail to be reviewed unless pre-qualified by one of many means, and a challenge system. I particularly admire the feature enabling address/domain specification and the labeling function that enables a particular sender from an otherwise banned domain.. The Bayesian feature, particularly since it examines the user side, is helpful, as certainly is the anti-phishing, antivirus protection. The layout is efficient with easy navigation. Good assistance is provided in the help section, forum, and, to some degree, the tutorial. The price is $34.95, not as a one time fee, but an annual subscription. This may be a deciding factor for some.

Reviewer 4: Although support response has been slow, Vanquish did everything possible to resolve the issue in question. I used the Users Forum, Online support request system, and email discussion. We eventually discussed the problem on the phone, with a link, at the same time running between both our computers, so that the Vanquish support staff could see what was going on. This included time on the weekend and time late at night - the night call coming from the individual's home! This is the first time that I have ever had that kind of support. It is very important that anyone who uses this program pay particular attention the EULA (End Users Licence Agreement). Do recognize that your email is being diverted to a Vanquish server and that once there, it will be subject to the procedures that Vanquish has in place concerning storage, backup and deletion. Unexpectedly, I did have a chance to discuss these questions, along with other concerns I had about privacy and security, with the Chairman and CEO. It was very instructive, and greatly increased my confidence in the way in which Vanquish handles privacy issues.


Will you continue to use it?

Reviewer 1: Probably not, but I may recommend it to people who use Outlook, Eudora, or Thunderbird as their email client and a POP rather than an IMAP server. I am impressed with many aspects of Vanquish's program, but I feel it does not work well for people who receive extensive and often unpredictable email and who have already fine-tuned their email systems to meet their needs.

Reviewer 2: No.

Reviewer 3: Yes, at least for a time. An accelerating deluge of spam has made manipulating my email very time consuming. This product seems to be helpful in controlling these.

Reviewer 4: No. I cannot take the risk of losing legitimate email messages.

Vanquish Replied: The Reviewers' experience and feedback should (and will) guide modifications of our product that will both eliminate the issues they ran into and deliver a more feature-rich email security solution. You will see product modifications in the near future that will address the negatives that reviewers pointed out. We thank them for their assistance in doing so.
 

OPERATING SYSTEMS USED IN THIS REVIEW
Windows XP Pro, XP Home, Media Center

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