Anti-computer virus firm Sophos reports that about one third of all new viruses discovered contain code which allows remote hackers to gain access to a computer’s data and resources, so securing access to data is a top priority.
Any police force’s tampered data could jeopardise criminal investigations and undermine public trust, the firm points out.
Merseyside Police required an IT solution that would defend against virus attacks. The system provided was Sophos’ SAV Interface, at the police force’s email gateway, installed by partner MSDL. It is to guard against email threats, including viruses, worms, Trojans, and malicious spyware.
What they say
Mike Robinson, Systems Development Manager, MSDL, says: “Security is a top priority for all of our customers, but with a modern, urban police force expectations are especially high. Sophos’s SAV Interface provides the level of security that clients such as this demand, and after careful evaluation of competing products, it was determined that Sophos best met Merseyside Police’s criteria." SAV Interface enables users of third-party applications to benefit from integration with the Sophos virus detection engine. The product sits at the gateway where it checks all traffic that enters or leaves via the email stream, and can be configured to either disinfect, delete or quarantine infected attachments – a vital tool, the firm adds, considering that the latest data from SophosLabs shows that one in 38 emails are viral (April 2005).
"Sophos SAV Interface scans 20 to 30 times quicker than traditional virus scanners and uses Genotype technology to protect against new versions of virus families before specific identification is available," said Stuart Small, UK sales and marketing director for Sophos. “This provides the sort of quick, effective protection that today’s security conscious organisations require.”
