The three major anti-virus software vendors are all building on their anti-spam offerings. Symantec, Trend Micro and Network Associates are all fighting for a share of the growing market. With these established players making moves, pure-play spam filter vendors will have a hard time gaining much market share without being acquired.
The big three anti-virus software vendors are all developing anti-spam products. Symantec announced on Monday that its AntiVirus for SMTP Gateways 3.1, which has anti-spam features, is now available. Trend Micro has already started shipping a Spam Prevention Service, and Network Associates has a launch planned for next month.
"Before now we had dabbled in anti-spam," with features such as subject-line blocking and blacklist filters, Symantec group product marketing manager Chris Miller said. "But this is our first significant entry into the enterprise anti-spam market."