NEC to Launch E-mail Filtering System Capable of Screening and Reducing Mobile Phone Spam Mail

NEC Corporation today announced that it has started delivery of its new e-mail filtering system, "SLIMIT-C," for screening and limiting mobile phone spam mail. In recent years in Japan, due to the rapid expansion of mobile internet, mobile phone users are becoming increasingly victim to mobile phone spam mail. These mails usually include URL links inviting users to visit unfavorable websites such as dating or adult sites.

NEC's new system is a hardware appliance, which can search and detect unfavorable URL links contained within mobile e-mails in order to reject them. The major features of this system are as follows:

-- SLIMIT-C realizes higher speed and response filtering capabilities as compared with conventional server/software systems, and is capable of processing approximately 5,000 mails per second with NEC's hardware-based, high-speed search engine.

-- To achieve this high capability, SLIMIT-C employs a URL database of NetSTAR, a leading web-filtering database vendor in Japan. NEC and NetSTAR have been working close together to realize this system. NetSTAR offers the most up-to-date database, which is always available and reviewed at least once an hour 365 days a year.

-- Two service settings can be chosen from; (1) reject all URLs (2) reject URLs that fall under specified categories.

"NEC's SLIMIT-C enables mobile operators to extract spam mail with high accuracy, and thus decrease spam mail which occupies a large part of mail traffic. By offering a secure environment to mobile users, operators can raise their brand credibility and reliability. " said Yasushi Yoshikawa, General Manager of NEC's Mobile Business Development Division. "SLIMIT-C helps to reduce unnecessary investment and realize optimum and effective investment of mail servers by mobile operators. It will contribute to the provision of a secure and dependable mobile e-mail environment. NEC will provide SLIMIT-C to mobile and telecom operators in Japan and eventually expand this business worldwide."

As the first user of SLIMIT-C, Vodafone K.K. in Japan has employed the new system for their anti-spam measures. The service is scheduled to be offered from late March 2005.

NEC's "SLIMIT" is a series of solutions to provide secure and dependable e-mail services and environments for mobile operators, telecom operators, internet service providers and private companies. Last year, NEC started sales of "SLIMIT-L," which is able to adjust mail traffic to mail servers.

NEC demonstrates its SLIMIT series at the 3GSM World Congress 2005 in Cannes, France.