Image Analyzer is a third party deep image analysis product that has been fully integrated into the MailMarshal content scanning engine. Integration with Image Analyzer allows MailMarshal to assess the content of images that pass through the email gateway. For usage details, see “Where the attached image does/does not/may match image category”. Trustwave also provides integrated licensing for this product.
Because MailMarshal unpacks the content of a message, extracting the attachments and the content inside archive files, Microsoft Word documents, and other packed formats, Image Analyzer can scan the image content from all components of the target message.
Image Analyzer can be used to check for a variety of image content, including pornography and QR codes. Image Analyzer uses a variety of techniques in its analysis. It is important to note that detection of image content is not an exact science, and the level of technology available today means that a few images may be undetected or falsely detected. A number of control settings can be selected when creating a rule for image analysis, to help tune the results of the analysis.
B.1.1 Why Would I Use Image Analyzer?
The primary goals for organizations deploying image analysis technology are to protect against malicious external linking through QR codes, to reduce legal liability and to ensure that company reputation is not compromised. Image Analyzer allows your organization to utilize leading technology, and provides evidence of due diligence in protecting your employees from accessing malicious links or receiving material that may be offensive or in some cases illegal. Executives in some countries can be held legally liable for not exercising due diligence in preventing material of this nature from entering or being stored on their systems.
Many organizations today are blocking all image content entering their organization to ensure that offensive material cannot enter. However, blocking all images can prevent the transmission of images that are required for business purposes.
Image Analyzer allows the organization to permit email transfer of legitimate images, and also to meet its legal obligations of due diligence and its more general moral obligations of protecting its employees from offensive material being delivered to them over a medium that they have no control over.
B.1.2 What Results Can I Expect From Image Analyzer?
MailMarshal 10.1 and above includes a new generation of Image Analyzer. Image Analyzer scans each image based on its visual features using a neural network. Image Analyzer has tested their technology with a wide range of image content that typically travels the Internet. The published results of this testing show:
•Image Analyzer detects 90% of commercial pornographic images with near-zero false positives.
•Image Analyzer detects greyscale and cartoon sexually explicit images with high reliability.
These results compare favorably with other products on the market.
B.1.3 How Does Image Analyzer Address the Issues?
Although no technology can guarantee 100% protection against inappropriate image content, use of Image Analyzer can help in several ways.
•Use of Image Analyzer can help to protect against phishing and other malicious attacks by detecting QR codes.
•Use of Image Analyzer can help to reduce liability by showing due diligence in providing an appropriate environment.
•The policy based functionality of MailMarshal allows social education on the issue of appropriate content within an organization. Individuals who exchange inappropriate material tend to do so repeatedly. MailMarshal can send a notification to the sender when it detects inappropriate content. Even if MailMarshal does not detect every instance of the material, the individuals will be educated that the content of email is being analyzed and monitored. The risk of action being taken, or social embarrassment, rapidly increases. Most users will cease to send material that they know is not acceptable under your organization’s policy.