Trend Micro Tackles E-Mail Virus Problem

Trend Micro [NASDAQ:TMIX] has launched version 3.1 of its
InterScan eManager for Windows NT. The new version of the anti-virus
and security software, the firm said, tackles the growing problem of
e-mail script-based attacks that have become so prevalent in the last
few months.

Central to the new software is an enhanced content filtering
technology that Trend said will prevent Java and other script viruses
from hiding in user's e-mail.

A spokesperson for the firm told Newsbytes that eManager can be
purchased separately as a plug-in to InterScan VirusWall or as part
of Trend's InterScan 2000 Suite, a specially priced Year 2000 Internet content security product bundle available until the end of
the year that comes with a special Year 2000 customer support
package.

As reported previously, embedded script viruses, such as the recently
discovered Bubbleboy worm, threaten to dramatically increase the risk
associated with reading e-mail because they can execute the moment an
e-mail is opened.

Trend said that its InterScan eManager sits on the Windows NT-based
Internet e-mail server, detecting and blocking self-executing scripts
hidden in e-mail before they can reach the desktop and execute.

The new features are provided as an optional profile setting, meaning
that administrators can either activate this new script-blocking
feature in eManager on demand - i.e. when a script virus attack is
reported - or they can use it to block any e-mail with embedded
script from entering the network.

According to Trend, traditional antivirus software programs do not
provide e-mail content filtering functionality and therefore can't
provide this type of protection.

Eva Chen, Trend's chief technology officer, said the BubbleBoy worm
attracted considerable attention because it proved, for the first
time, that a virus could execute simply by opening an e-mail.

Many security experts anticipate a wave of embedded script attacks
over the coming year - possibly with some timed to coincide with
confusion generated by Year 2000 problems.

Chen said that the Internet is built on trust, since most people
trust that they can connect their PCs to a global network, safely do
business on the Internet, read e-mail and exchange information.

"By making us question whether we can safely read e-mail, the
BubbleBoy worm threatens that trust, and in doing so, threatens the
very growth of the Internet," she said, adding that InterScan
eManager helps restore that trust relationship by blocking Internet
e-mail with potentially malicious embedded script.

Trend says that a full release version of InterScan eManager 3.1 for
NT with the new script-blocking capability is available for
evaluation download from the firm's Website at http://www.antivirus.com.

Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com.