- Government adds new line of defence against new breed of viruses
- Departments throughout government are now protected in a deal worth over £1 million
- Email security ‘critical’ to Government
The British Government has taken on email security company MessageLabs to further protect itself against the threat of destructive mass mailing viruses, in a deal worth over £1 million.
Departments throughout the Government, including the Treasury, Prime Minister’s Office, Department of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Defence, will now be protected by a new line of defence against the growing dangers posed by mass mailing viruses such as Lovebug, Sircam and Goner. This move will ensure that any threats are identified and stopped before reaching the Government’s network boundaries.
While business continuity and Internet security are important for any organisation, for the UK Government they are imperative. Any network downtime caused by a mass mailing virus could be critical for the Government, which relies greatly on email communications and Internet related applications to carry out a multitude of responsibilities.
The GSI (Government Secure Intranet), which provides the secure network infrastructure for all Government departments, decided to take on additional anti-virus protection due to the recent growth in mass mailing virus outbreaks and the inability of traditional anti-virus software to provide sufficient protection against these threats.
MessageLabs, the British owned email security company, will supply the GSI with its renowned managed anti-virus service, scanning emails at the Internet level before passing them on their final destination. MessageLabs uses patented artificial intelligence to pro-actively identify new virus outbreaks without the need for signatures.
MessageLabs service has proved itself by instantly identifying and stopping all recent virus outbreaks including Lovebug, Sircam, Nimda and Goner. While the GSI was trialing the MessageLabs service in late 2001 it was put to the test when the Goner virus broke out. MessageLabs stopped the virus immediately but its records showed that 21,167 copies of the destructive virus had been directed at Government email users over the first three days of the outbreak. Although none of the viruses got through, the scale and speed of the outbreak confirmed the need for a further layer of protection.
Cable & Wireless, a MessageLabs partner, provides the infrastructure for the GSI and the anti-virus service has been delivered through them.
Ben White, CEO and Joint Founder of MessageLabs, said:
"Attack from email viruses is a clear and present danger for the Government, and the consequences could be very serious indeed. For example, the Goner virus last year actually deleted security software and other executable files from networks while SirCam emailed private documents around the globe.
"We are delighted that our email security service will now protect the Government and ensure that any threats are stopped well before they reach their network boundaries. This will ensure that the Government can get on with the very important job of running the country and encouraging greater adoption of Internet technologies, without running the risk of any virus related disruption. Our 100% record in stopping viruses, both known and unknown, means we are the best people to do the job."
Bob Evans, Director of Information Assurance and Resilience at the Office of the e-Envoy said:
"Effective information assurance needs a robust, effective anti-virus service. The MessageLabs service will therefore be a vital asset in protecting government systems against external threats and ensure that we comply with Sir Richard Wilson's recent comment that "Information assurance is right in the centre of the playing field..." It is important for government to have its own house in order".
The MessageLabs service portfolio is available in Hong Kong as YKScan from Yui Kee, and is a complete email security solution that also scans email for pornographic images and ‘spam’ thus protecting customers from all the major threats.