Mail Security and Conversion with Palladio

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In this issue Focus on Palladio:

• Connects your Unix, Uniplex, Exchange systems with the Internet
  
• Gives you protection against mail misuse and abuse
  
• Prevents mail bomb denial of service attacks
  
• Automatically converts message attachments for you
  

CONNECTION, SECURITY & CONTROL

PALLADIO provides a secure and reliable means of integrating Unix, Windows and Internet mail systems.

PALLADIO provides:

Automatic conversion of mail formats (MIME,Unix,Uniplex etc)

• Eliminates mail system incompatibilities

Automatic conversion of attachments (over 40 formats supported)

• No need for users to mess around with file conversion

Automatic auditing to capture and prevent images, executables and bandwidth wasters.

• Prevents internet abuse

Anti-spam controls such as banning mail from users or domains.

• Eliminates unwanted mail

Automatic archiving of all mail transfers for a full electronic trace

• Provides full corporate retrieval

Installation on a single machine for one, simple centralised administration point.

• Easy to manage for IT administrators

INTEGRATION, CONVERSION, PROTECTION AND AUDITING

Sites needing to integrate Uniplex with the Internet or Microsoft Exchange need to be able to convert Uniplex mail messages to the industry standard MIME format (and vice- versa).

You will also receive many different file formats from external sources, one option is to provide each user with their own file converter. The better option is to handle the file conversion centrally through Palladio.

Furthermore, any Unix site connecting to the Internet needs to ensure that its systems are not open to abuse, for example through spam mail or pornographic images.

Finally, many organisations require a full audit of all mail exchanged with the outside world.

MESSAGE CONVERSION

BENEFITS

• Full connection between Uniplex, Microsoft and the Internet
• Eliminates manual data conversions and invalid formats
• Single point of administration saves time
• Users can read all mail with no IT intervention
• Does not require document converters on every desktop
• Low management overhead
• Quick installation, no need to go round many machines

Palladio provides two different types of conversion

• Automatically converts the message format, means no worries about different mail systems
  

• Automatically converts message attachments, means no need to have every application for every data type
  

• The messages can be converted between plain Unix, Uniplex, Exchange and MIME formats. So, for example Exchange and Uniplex users can swap mail.
  

• The attachments can be converted between over 40 different data formats, including MS-Word, Uniplex, Lotus, WordPerfect and many more. This means that your recipients always receive mail attachments in a format they can read.
  

• Message conversion is handled by domain or by user, offering quick but flexible setup.
  

• Attachments are recognised automatically and converted to the most appropriate format for the recipient. In particular recipients can receive RTF or Uniplex format messages as their default.
  

• Optionally, the Centreline 2000 TUDOR and TUSCANY products for Uniplex document and spreadsheet conversion respectively can be included.
  

• Finally, attachments that are uuencoded (the Internet standard for compression) are automatically decoded on receipt, so users don't have to.

SECURITY AND MISUSE: PREVENT SPAM, PORN AND MAIL BOMBS

• To prevent spam (unwanted emails) you can blacklist mail accounts and domains

• To control porn and other internet misuse you can audit and capture images and video

• To prevent virus infection Palladio searches for executable programs.

• To prevent excessive internet costs Palladio monitors bandwidth usage

• Eliminates denial of service attacks by stopping mail bombs.

• Allows auditing of mail usage to help identify misuse and help forward planning.

Of course, not all image files are inappropriate, sometimes there is a real need to send a large file to many users, so Palladio allows nominated users to override the settings for auditing.

Palladio returns control of your mail system back to you. Palladio resolves Internet misuse management issues.

INSTALLATION AND CUSTOMISATION SERVICE

Centreline 2000 offer a full installation service and can add optional features specific to your site, for example:

• Automatic re-routing of mail based on simple aliases
• Automatic addition of signature blocks or disclaimers
• Integration with Unix virus checkers

HOW IT WORKS

PALLADIO integrates into your SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) system on a single Unix machine. This single system acts as a gateway for all SMTP traffic between Exchange, Uniplex and the Internet.

PALLADIO intercepts messages as they are transferred through and by interrogating the message determines which message and attachment conversions are required.

PALLADIO does not interfere with your existing sendmail configurations.

SEEN ON THE INTERNET

So, Cheri Blaire arrives at Number 10 driving a new Ford Escort

The constable on the door says "Nice car"

Cheri replies, "Yes, I got it for Tony"

The constable thinks, then "Hey, good swap"

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