Entered CNET Catalog: 03/15/2005
SKU: SERVCURB
Manufacturer: Qurb Inc.
Manufacturer description
Qurb works immediately upon installation following a quick download - without any configuration or training. Tight integration with Outlook and Outlook Express means you'll hardly notice Qurb as it protects your inbox from e-mail security threats and spam.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 03/24/2005
We found Qurb's setup both quick and easy. Qurb installs a toolbar inside Outlook and Outlook Express and scans your e-mail as it downloads. E-mail from anyone not on your Outlook contact list or approved list gets shunted to a quarantine folder for you to review or delete. Qurb also allows you to issue a challenge e-mail to new senders, who must respond before their e-mail is delivered to you. As with MailFrontier, the challenge feature is set to be off by default. And like MailFrontier, Qurb will block e-mail created using foreign-language character sets.
Whenever you inspect the contents of the Qurb quarantine folder within Outlook, the app opens a pop-up window that displays the folder's contents with tools to redirect legit mail blocked by mistake. Passing your mouse over any entry allows you to read the first few lines of each message, helping you to separate the spam from legitimate e-mail without having to open it. Like MailFronter, Qurb automatically moves the not-spam-designated messages to your Inbox and adds those addresses to your approved list so that they won't get blocked again.
Unlike MailFrontier, Qurb offers a potential solution for e-mail spoofing. Its unique Domain Verification tool checks whether the originating IP address matches the e-mail address in the From field, so you can be confident that e-mail came from, say, eBay and not some phisher in Belarus trying to steal your credit card number. However, only a handful of companies currently publish their IP addresses, so the feature will be inactive much of the time. Perhaps as more companies comply, this tool might become an effective weapon against phishing attacks.
Qurb also includes a lightning-fast search tool for Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express that runs rings around Microsoft's own pitiful search features. The tool rummages through all your messages, contacts, appointments, and notes. It won't decrease the spam you get, but it will save you time finding old messages.
Warning: At first, Qurb trapped nearly 100 percent of the junk e-mail in our test account--and a large number of legit messages. Over time, as we culled through the quarantine folder and added names to our approved senders list, however, the false positives dwindled to almost nothing. Your experience will vary, of course.
Another drawback: Qurb offers fewer configuration options than MailFrontier. For example, Qurb won't block adult-content spam and allow just casino Web site spam. With Qurb, it's block all or nothing.
Support for Qurb is limited to online FAQs, user forums, and a Web-based e-mail form. We submitted a question and received a helpful response in about seven hours, better than most software companies these days. MailFrontier offers telephone support only for its business customers.
User opinions
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User Rating: 
8/10
Easy to Install and Use
Pros: Sets itself up
Cons: No boxed software, only download
User Rating: 
1/10
Horrible software...increases spam volume after install
Pros: Good filter
Cons: Increased spam mail 10 fold
User Rating: 
9/10
Excellent value
Pros: Full featured, intuitive, quick & easy implementation
Cons: None, I wish I had bought it long ago....
User Rating: 9/10
I Love it already!
Pros: Very easy to use
Cons: Just be sure to check your quarantine folder!
User Rating: 8/10
Excellent, easy to install and use!
Pros: Nothing gets in without my prior approval. "Qurbed" list easy to read and select wanted email. Can easily preview messages without opening. Overlooked messages easy to find.
Cons: Quaratined message alert option should have "minutes" sertting.
User Rating: 8/10
Lives up to promotional claims
Pros: Easy to configure; has not failed to catch all spam received
Cons: I have no complaints
User Rating: 9/10
Great program, very easy to use
Pros: Very simple, catches just about 100% of spam
Cons: None for me, so far.
I like the fact that it uses a whitelist - it makes up a list of approved senders from your contacts list when you install it. Everything else go into the spam folder, waiting approval or deletion. If you are looking for a solid tool for eliminating spam, this is the one.
