"Mail essentials does it again! Today, Mail essentials quarantined an email with the NAVIDAD.EXE attachment. Once again, it has proven its anti-spam and anti-virus protection. To date, Mail essentials has quarantined over 1000 potential email viruses and it has kept our internal network safe from harmful viruses. Mail essentials automatically downloads virus signature file definitions daily from its own site and constantly checks for potential viruses in every single mail that comes and goes from our network." - Joe Palomo, Systems Administrator at Perotsystems, US

Mail essentials for Exchange has given Joe Palomo, Systems Administrator at Perotsystems, peace of mind when it comes to defending his company's network - and those of his clients - against email viruses and attacks.

Perotsystems is an international professional consulting company specializing in the information technology field, with over 6500 employees worldwide. The Sacramento office where Mr. Palomo is based boasts "a small, dynamic, and very talented group of associates who provide IT services to AgAmerica/Western Farm Credit Banks". This office works closely with the banks to help them achieve both their financial and technology goals.

Saying goodbye to email viruses outbreaks
Mr. Palomo installed Mail essentials after the Banks' network fell victim to email viruses one time too many: "Before we implemented Mail essentials, we had experienced email virus outbreaks on more than one occasion that caused a lot of panic and clean-up," he recalled. "Not willing to face something like that again, the Banks and Perotsystems decided to get an email security product that would serve our needs".

Explaining why his choice settled on Mail essentials for Exchange, Mr. Palomo revealed: "I personally recommended the product because I researched all other available email content checking solutions and Mail essentials looked like the best candidate. Before buying Mail essentials, I tested the trial version and liked its features. It was not long before we purchased a 250-user version."

Also aiding Mr. Palomo's decision was the fact that he was seeking "an easy process on ordering and receiving the product": Mail essentials satisfied both requirements with ease.

Mr. Palomo is quick to point out that Mail essentials proved its worth immediately upon purchase: "It saved us from another virus attack just one and a half days after the implementation and has since then quarantined over 1,200 possible email viruses," he remarked.

Elaborating on this, he recalled: "As I was checking the email servers that morning, I found 11 instances of the 'Very Funny' email virus that was quarantined by our Mail essentials email firewall. Luckily, our successful deployment of the software was completed that same weekend. Had we been hit by this email virus attack, it could have taken us back to a couple of weeks earlier, when we did not have the protection of Mail essentials."

Another Mail essentials characteristic that meets Mr. Palomo's satisfaction is the fact that "its features does not eat up a lot of the server's resources and it truly protects our internal system against any possible attacks".

Note: Since this case study was compiled (in November 2000), the anti-virus and content checking features of Mail essentials were re-launched in GFI MailSecurity.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

November 2000