If you think you can handle spam your own way, forget it! It is impossible to surf the web without protecting your computer and mailbox with anti-spam software.

Traditionally, anti-spam software comes in three different forms – as email plug-ins, stand-alone programs and server-based email spam filters. The email plug-ins receives all spam related messages and downloads them before sorting and signaling the authorities about it. Some types of software blacklists the spam IP addresses, notifies their Internet service providers and blocks them. Some software depends on the user to mark their spam messages and set to work on them based on the user information provided. So far, the best known anti spam software is Bayesian filtering since it follows no rules in its combat against spam. It continues reinvent itself by scanning your read mails with spam ones and thus learning more about new spam technology.

McAfee’s Spam Killer is an effective spam filter which filters and prevents known scam and protects your inbox against unknown junk mails. Apart from just controlling your email content, it also automatically reports spam to your ISP. The latest version of Spam Killer costs $24.99 dollars and comes with many unique features like invisible filtering and auto-detection of accounts.

Email Protector removes spam without touching legitimate mails. It is preferred by many as one of the best anti-spam software available today. It is easy to use, affordable and comes with a free trial to check out how effective it is.

Spam Agent of Anti Spam software has more than 1,500 preset filters which scan and eliminate unwanted messages. It also reports spammers and ensures that only unwanted mail is deleted from your inbox. This software comes with the facility of creating one’s own customized filters for one’s email boxes and is compatible with Outlook Express and other email software like Eudora.