Anti-spam controls are causing almost half of workers to miss their deadlines, according to a new survey.
The poll found wide-ranging inadequacies in filtering software, with 66% of respondents saying that legitimate e-mails have been blocked by a spam filter. This is known in the IT industry as false positives.
The survey, conducted for the Infosecurity Europe conference, also found:
– 66% of respondents said genuine e-mails were blocked on a monthly basis
– 25% of those surveyed revealed that they experience this problem on a weekly basis
– 50% of respondents said wasted time was the most significant repercussion
– 42% have missed a deadline as a result.
Nigel Brooke, vice-president of IT security specialists Mirapoint, said the ‘spam hysteria’ of the past few years had created the impression that blocking unwanted e-mails is a primary concern for businesses.
“The speed and reliability of e-mail delivery is integral to its value as a business communications tool,” he said. “Filtering unwanted messages ultimately serves no purpose if it undermines the effectiveness of the overall message network’s responsiveness.”
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