FrontBridge Reports Dramatic Drop in Virus Infected Email and Rise in Spam and Scams
LOS ANGELES, Calif. 12 July, 2005 – FrontBridge Technologies Inc., a leading provider of secure managed messaging services, reported that in June 90 per cent of traffic on its network was blocked as spam before these messages could consume valuable customer server space, network bandwidth and employee time.
Despite the continued prevalence of spam, FrontBridge did report dramatic decreases in the amount of virus-laden email bounced from its network. 36 million messages were rejected or quarantined for carrying viruses, as compared to the 319 million messages in May. The decrease in viruses can be attributed to no coordinated attack last month such as that brought on by the Sober.S worm.
“Despite a lull in activity last month, FrontBridge still cautions companies that the danger of viruses remains ever present,” said Charles McColgan, chief technology officer, FrontBridge Technologies. “We continue to see new virus strains transmitted across our network on a daily basis and are employing the latest in anti-virus counter measures to ensure that our customers remain protected.”
June ushered in a new development in malware, the Fantibag Trojan. The Trojan installs a packeå≈t filter that blocks incoming and outgoing traffic for a wide range of security related websites, preventing infected users from accessing anti-virus updates. Although currently found in low levels by the FrontBridge virus analytics team, Fantibag is downloaded by users clicking on links with spam emails containing Mitglieder/Bagle Trojans.
Other viruses found in low levels in June include the Kedebe.F worm, which used false and sensationalized email message texts to entice recipients into opening the infected attachment. Email topics ranged from conspiracy theories surrounding the late Pope John Paul II, Michael Jackson’s alleged death and Osama Bin Laden’s alleged capture. Other creative messages included claims that the attachment contained naked pictures of the sender’s girlfriend, account closure warnings and lottery winnings.
FrontBridge is one of the world’s largest global email handlers, processing on average more than 5 billion business email messages a month for more than 4,000 companies. FrontBridge’s advanced email filtering technologies strip more than 95 per cent of spam and 100 per cent of viruses from inbound and outbound email streams.
FrontBridge’s services are deployed across a unique load-balanced, fully-redundant network of data centres located in strategic Internet locations. The data centres act as a protective bridge between the Internet and a corporate network and are capable of handling any fluctuations in global email traffic. The system delivers the highest reliability, achieving 100 per cent historical uptime and guaranteeing 99.999 per cent availability.
About FrontBridge Technologies
FrontBridge is a global provider of comprehensive secure messaging services. Its Total Message Management services ensure the security, compliance and continuity of all electronic messages, with fully-managed services for email and IM archiving, spam filtering, virus scanning, encrypted email, policy enforcement and disaster recovery. Services are powered globally by the only load-balanced, fully-redundant data center network to demonstrate 100 percent historical uptime, on top of 99.999 percent service level guarantees. FrontBridge is based in Los Angeles, Calif. with offices in London, Paris, and Winnipeg. Its managed services are trusted and relied upon by more than 4,000 businesses across the globe and are available through the managed service industry’s largest distribution partner network, including IBM, NEC, Sprint, VeriSign, Siemens Business Services, Inc., TELUS and Equant. For more information, visit us on the web at www.frontbridge.com.