EIM Anti virus to attack growing online virus threat

The new service has been enabled to all type of customers; business and residential who are hosted by EIM Mail Service (eim.ae/mail). EIM Mail subscribers have the option of disabling the anti virus service should they wish to do so, although this is not recommended by EIM. Full detail of this new service is available on eim.ae/mail/antivirus.

The new EIM Mail Anti Virus Service, powered by industry leader Network Associates McAfee anti virus solution, will remove viruses at the network level, before they reach users' computers. The recipient will then receive the original e-mail with a message informing them the virus has been removed.

To provide the most comprehensive protection, viruses will be removed rather than simply cleaned. Often, when a virus is contained in an attachment, it may alter the information in the document before it can reach the anti virus software. This, in turn, can alter the files contents and result in the recipient receiving inaccurate, misleading information without being aware it has been corrupted. Furthermore, some viruses, known as worms, work from computer to computer through address books. By simply deleting the virus, the chance of receiving altered documents and the risk of re-infection is greatly reduced.

"According to recent surveys, a total of 3,855 new viruses were introduced in the first half of this year, an increase of 17.5 percent over the same time last year," commented Maroua Naim, General Manager, EIM. "By incorporating an anti virus solution into our e-mail architecture, the number of infected files reaching our users will be dramatically reduced, if not eradicated. This is another important step in our continued efforts to ensure the UAE's Internet users have access to the best products and services available on the market."

At this stage, EIM will only scan in-bound e-mails that are destined for EIM Mail Service subscribers' inboxes. It is impossible to tell where 95% of viruses originated because they are often sent from random addresses using address books in infected computers. If EIM were to scan outbound e-mails, it would result in thousands of users receiving inaccurate warning e-mails wrongly informing them they had distributed a virus. However, EIM is considering the introduction of anti virus solution for outbound email traffic should the technology become available.

"Viruses can be very complex in the way they distribute throughout the web," added Naim. "We have been working hard to ensure we have a product that will work efficiently and cause minimum disruption to our customers."