ScanSafe blocks critical WMF security flaw
London, January 10 2006 — ScanSafe, the worldwide leader in managed Web security, has announced that it has effectively protected its enterprise customers from the recent Windows Metafile flaw found in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows®, despite the further recent discovery of additional performance issues with the component which may cause applications to stop responding.
Although more than 15 percent of ScanSafe’s customers were exposed to the WMF threat within the first few days, all potential web downloads of the threat were successfully blocked. ScanSafe’s statistics, which are based on processing over 3 billion monthly Web requests, indicate that this is one of the most pervasive threats to hit the Web in the last two years.
“We’ve seen the large potential impact of this threat and given the time it will take IT to patch all affected systems, the number of users who are exposed to it is sure to grow significantly,” said Eldar Tuvey, ScanSafe’s Chief Executive Officer “The fact that this threat permeates all aspects of corporate communications, unprotected businesses are at real risk of an attack.”
From December 30th to January 3rd, 2006, ScanSafe found that the percentage of customers affected by the WMF vulnerability increased from 6 percent to 15 percent. As a rule, ScanSafe considers anything it sees that potentially impacts 1 percent of its customer base during a 24-hour period, as significant. Since January 2004, there have only been 15 to 20 such incidents. Of these incidents, only 5 unique threats reached greater than 5 percent. Nothing else has come remotely close to the number ScanSafe is currently tracking with WMF.
ScanSafe’s fully managed Web security services successfully block the WMF threat (as well other zero day exploits) before it can reach the enterprise network, while simultaneously allowing companies to enforce their Internet access policies. By leveraging Outbreak Intelligenceâ„?, a patent-pending heuristics engine, ScanSafe is able to monitor inbound and outbound traffic in real-time and block new, zero-day threats that lack traditional signatures. For an additional layer of security, ScanSafe also incorporates third party commercial engines into its service. This multi-layer protection model provides customers with complete protection from all web-based malware threats – not just those that are signature based.
About ScanSafe
ScanSafe pioneered managed web security and is the market leader, currently processing over three billion web requests each month. Operating at the Internet rather than at the server or desktop level, ScanSafe provides fully managed web virus protection and web usage policy enforcement.
Best of breed protection is guaranteed by ScanSafe’s multi-tier model that combines the power of industry-leading virus engines and categorizers with proprietary heuristics engine Outbreak Intelligenceâ„? to eliminate threats before they reach customer networks.
ScanSafe services Enterprise customers and SMEs through its extensive network of channel partners and service providers. The company’s primary financier is Benchmark Capital, the leading global venture capital firm. For more information visit: www.scansafe.com.