 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Tech industry |
| Founded | 1998 (1998) |
| Founder | Sunil Paul |
| Defunct | 2004 (2004) |
| Fate | Acquired bySymantec |
| Headquarters | San Francisco[1] |
| Products | Email filtering software |
| Revenue | $26 million (2003[2]) |
| $1.1 million (2003[2]) | |
Number of employees | 127 (2004)[3] |
| Website | Official website[3] |
Brightmail Inc. was aSan Francisco–based technology company focused onanti-spamfiltering. Brightmail's system has a three-pronged approach to stopping spam, the Probe Network is a massive number of e-mail addresses established for the sole purpose of receiving spam. The Brightmail Logistics and Operations Center (BLOC) evaluates newly detected spam and issues rules forISPs. The third approach is the Spam Wall, a filtering engine that identifies and screens out spam based on the updates from the BLOC.[4]
Brightmail had partnerships with major Email providers andISPs includingNetscape,Sendmail,Hotmail and Software.com. Other partners includeAT&T WorldNet Service,Concentric Network,EarthLink, Excite, FastNet, FlashNet,Juno Online Services and USA.net.
The antivirus-inspired regular update mechanism used to detect spam email attracted the attention ofInternet security software makers and Brightmail was acquired bySymantec in 2004.[4]
The Brightmail name continued to be used by Symantec, and the sloganPowered by Brightmail appeared on their products until 2011 when most products were renamed or deprecated into what is known as Symantec Messaging Gateway (SMG).[5]
Founded as Bright Light Technologies, Inc. by a group ofAOL expatriates led bySunil Paul in 1998, with the promise to “end spam,” Bright Light raised $55 million in three rounds of venture capital led by Accel, TCV, and Symantec. After the second round of funding, Bright Light changed its name to Brightmail in summer 1999.
Brightmail's services were mostly geared towardISPs, whose subscribers were demanding a solution to spam or junk email, as it is estimated that fifty percent of all email is unwanted spam.
Brightmail made its name by creating a server-sidespam filtering and customized software update services that employed sophisticated server-based rules that recognize spam and restrict the ability of spammers to relay mail through other people's servers. From a network of partners Brightmail gets an early warning of any widespread spam, which it analyzes in real-time at the Brightmail Logistics and Operations Center.[5]
In mid-2004,Symantec Corp., an early investor that owned 11 percent of Brightmail, acquired the firm for $370 million in an all-cash deal.[1] Symantec was expanding beyond antivirus to provide a variety of security software, services and hardware. To this end, it has made a number of acquisitions between 2002 and 2004, including SafeWeb andOn Technology.[2] Brightmail technology was incorporated in most Symantec's products, including the well-knownNorton antivirus product line.[6] The move marks Brightmail's shift from point antispam systems to the larger, more integrated email security solutions, including products that solve a wide range of email messaging problems.[7]
The CEO at the time of acquisition wasEnrique Salem, who later went on to become the CEO of Symantec before being ousted in 2012.[8]
