Online security service provider MessageLabs this week unveiled version 2.0 of its Web Security Services package, which combines its pro-active email and Instant Messaging filtering service with web control and filtering capabilities.
From 3 July, the company will draw together the MessageLabs Anti-Spyware and Anti-Virus service with URL Filtering, which allows companies to configure their own category- and content-based web access policies.
Unlike traditional anti-virus software suppliers, MessageLabs does not deliver software that needs to be installed and regularly updated on customers' computers. Users are effectively placed behind a giant email filter which is overseen by an artificial intelligence engine called Skeptic that looks for suspicious patterns of email distribution.
The move to include website controls is a response to customer demand for services that counteract blended threats, the company explained. Increasingly, virus and phishing attacks are deployed from a combination of email, websites and Instant Messaging (IM).
Spammers, for example, often set up "drive-by download" websites to distribute spyware that collects email addresses from users who visit them. They then circulate emails and IMs to draw people to the the malware sites.
The new MessageLabs service is causing some excitement on the internet security circuit. Stewart Twynham of consultants Bawden-Quinn told AccountingWEB, "From a customer's point of view, you probably won't see much difference, but when you find out what happens under the bonnet, it's quite exciting.
"MessageLabs doesn't work on the typical virus pattern-matching you see in most virus stuff, the Skeptic technology can see the whole net and spot trends, so it can use the email side to protect the other side of the system by restricting access to malware websites."
The web access control system is based on ScanSoft software, which will be integrated into the MessageLabs Skeptic system which is hosted on more than 90 servers around the world, noted Twynham. This will greatly extend the reach of the ScanSoft service.
MessageLabs URL Filtering can monitor the sites employees visit and block specific sites or restrict access during office hours. "That's quite a useful feature during the World Cup," he added.
The only downside for business customers is likely to be cost, Twynham suggested. The MessageLabs email filtering service typically costs around £3 per user per month and the web controls have been slightly less. MessageLabs said that the combined package will cost £3.80 per user per month for 50 to 249 users, with lower prices for a higher number of users or if Anti-Virus/Spyware and URL Filtering are combined with other MessageLabs services.
"Setting the prices for 50-plus users which may put off companies with smaller numbers of users. But there may be customers who are prepared to invest that amount because of the protection they can provide," Twynham said.
"I've used MessageLabs since 2000 and none of the clients where we've installed it have ever had a virus. That level of service is unique - you can't buy that with a package of anti-virus software."
