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How Reflexion Works

The following diagram shows how Reflexion processes incoming email. There are three main points:

Message Flow Diagram

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Unknown User Check
Spammers typically send email to millions of addresses in hopes of identifying a few legitimate mailboxes. This tactic accounts for nearly 90% of all email processed. Reflexion disarms this approach by providing SMTP-level enforcement and RCPT-checking to determine if a user exists. If the target recipient is unknown, the SMTP connection is dropped with a 500 error before accepting any data, which prevents the terrible pounding to which one's internal infrastructure would otherwise be subjected. As spam volumes continue to balloon, this capability obviates the need to continually upgrade one’s infrastructure.
Virus Check
Reflexion scans all incoming and outgoing mail for viruses. Infected messages are deleted, and a plain text version of the message text is placed in the user’s quarantine folder.
Allow List Check
Reflexion supports a range of capabilities to ensure that mail from legitimate senders will reach the user’s inbox. An automated utility can be used to build an Allow List by importing contacts from an Outlook address book and Sent folder. New users can be auto-added to the list based on first outbound message or on a reply to an inbound message. The Allow List accommodates individual senders, domains, and enterprise-wide entries.
Block List Check
Reflexion provides a simple means of adding individual senders or entire domains to the Block List. Mail from senders on the Block List is immediately quarantined or vaporized, at the user’s option. Enterprise-wide entries may be made to the Block List.
Protective Address Check
Incoming mail that utilizes a Protective Address can bypass content filtering, if the user so wishes, to ensure delivery and avoid false positives (legitimate mail erroneously classified as spam). Protective Addresses can be used selectively, with the Address-on-the-Fly feature, or automatically for all new correspondents in Total Control mode. We believe this provides the most effective inbox control available anywhere. In Total Control mode, a message will only be delivered to the user's inbox if the sender is on the Allow List or if it arrives on a valid To/From address pair, which deprives spammers of their favorite technique of "spoofing" the From address.
Permitted Language Check
Reflexion can be configured to accept email only in specified languages, with email in all other languages being quarantined. This feature, which can be configured at both the enterprise and user levels, solves the "foreign language spam" problem by blocking all mail in languages that the recipient chooses not to accept.
Permitted Country Check
Reflexion can also be configured to accept mail only from certain countries. This feature enables organizations to block all mail arriving from outside their geographic area of operations, which presumably has a high likelihood of being spam.
Content Filtering
Email that has not yet been blocked or delivered is finally submitted to content filtering, and processed in accordance with user configurable thresholds. Reflexion’s filters scan inbound email using several techniques, including checks for the sender’s reputation, known bulk email, heuristics, and common spammer tricks, as well as subject line analysis and Bayesian filtering.
Spam/Virus Handling
Reflexion offers a wide range of methods for handling mail that is denied delivery to one’s inbox. Some users prefer to receive a daily quarantine summary, others want to have their spam vaporized, while still others may want to have likely spam flagged and delivered to a Delegated Spam Folder managed by an administrative assistant. To avoid offensive content, users may choose to partially block the subject lines
Control Panel
At the user’s option, RTC will automatically insert an in-message control panel at the bottom of inbound email. The control panel provides a simple means for communicating with the user. For example, it identifies the Address-on-the-Fly to which a message was sent, provides added information about the message, such as identifying presumed address-sharing events, and provides the user with message-specific options for updating their access preferences for the sender or the address, such as "Add this sender to my Allow List." To modify their preferences, users need only click on the link – there’s no need to log into the Message Center.
Delivery Destination
Mail that successfully clears security is delivered to the recipient’s local email server or ISP. Quarantined mail is delivered to a Web-based folder that can be organized by filter score, date and time, or subject line. If the delivery destination is unavailable for any reason, e.g., a power outage, Reflexion will queue inbound mail for up to seven days and resume delivery as soon as an SMTP connection is re-established.