Virus-infected emails drop by over two-thirds in March, reveals VIA NET.WORKS UK
The proportion of emails carrying viruses in circulation to small- to medium-sized enterprise (SME) customers using VIA NET.WORKS UK’s e-mail anti-virus services fell to one in every 480 during March 2003. VIA NET.WORKS UK, a provider of managed Internet services for business, said this figure represents a 70% reduction in email-borne virus activity compared to January 2003, when 1 in every 145 e-mails scanned by VIA UK was found to be infected.
“This month has seen a significant fall in the number of infected emails spreading in the wild,” said Jeff Meulman, Managing Director of VIA NET.WORKS UK. “Ironically there has been a lot of publicity recently about the potential of an increased on-line security threat in light of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.”
“A reduction in virus activity this month is an encouraging trend for SMEs but businesses cannot afford to be complacent. Anti-virus protection must be kept constantly updated, and SMEs are particularly vulnerable if they do not have sufficient in-house resources to safeguard their systems from external threats,” continued Meulman.
Through its Managed E-mail Anti-Virus Service, VIA has been tracking the proportion of virus-infected e-mails that have been sent and received by its SME customers. 20 new viruses successfully spread ‘in the wild’ during the month of March out of the hundreds of pieces of malicious code released by virus writers. The most commonly encountered virus in March was Klez. VIA advises businesses to regularly update their security systems against potential new threats to ensure they have the best possible protection.
VIA’s Managed E-mail Anti-Virus Service scans customer e-mails, blocking those messages containing known viruses and worms. The service provides up-to-date protection together with an online incident reporting tool where users can view summaries of viruses detected. VIA’s Managed E-mail Anti-Virus Service is part of VIA’s Managed Security Services portfolio. VIA’s Managed Security Services provides cost-effective, 24×7 monitoring and management of online security systems for SMEs, and include firewall management, VPN management, online security audits and network vulnerability testing.
More information is available from www.vianetworks.co.uk/antivirus.html. All services are subject to VIA NET.WORKS UK terms and conditions.