Comprehensive email security package utilizes multiple virus engines to protect networks; also provides exploit detection, threats analysis and email content checking

London, UK, 23 April 2002 - GFI announced today that MailSecurity, its new email security package for Exchange and SMTP servers, has been awarded Anti-Virus Checkmark Level 1 certification from West Coast Labs. The certification ensures that GFI MailSecurity meets the Checkmark program's rigorous standards for detecting in-the-wild viruses.

The Anti-Virus Checkmark is a globally recognized program that tests computer security products to determine whether they can detect viruses that are actually causing infections in the real world. Certification under the program gives end users a clear and independent indication of a given product's virus identification capabilities. The testing procedure is repeated at least every three months to ensure continued compliance. Certified products can be identified by the presence of a special Checkmark logo or by examining the certification list located at http://www.check-mark.com/checkmark/products.html.

"Anti-virus protection is a critical component of GFI MailSecurity, and this certification from West Coast Labs gives our customers non-biased confirmation of the product's ability to combat virus attacks," said Nick Galea, CEO of GFI. "With MailSecurity's unique combination of multiple anti-virus engines, separate email exploit and threats engines, and email content and attachment checking, system administrators have a comprehensive system for protecting their organizations against email-related security threats."

"GFI's achievement of Anti-Virus Checkmark certification shows that the company's MailSecurity product has been tested and approved to an industry-recognized standard by an independent organization," said Paul Robinson, Technical Director of West Coast Labs. "For IT managers responsible for securing their networks, this provides a level of confidence that can be helpful when making purchasing decisions."

GFI MailSecurity comes bundled with Norman Virus Control, 16-time winner of the Virus Bulletin 100% award, and SOFTWIN's BitDefender, which recently became only the third product in the world to receive ICSA certification for Windows XP. The McAfee virus scanning engine can be added for an additional charge. This gives users the ability to run multiple best-of-breed virus engines simultaneously, eliminating dependence on one vendor and providing maximum protection against new virus assaults.

GFI MailSecurity also includes:

• An industry-first exploit shield engine that protects users from any current or future email viruses and attacks that use known exploits - a feature that would have prevented the damage caused by the Nimda and AnnaKournikova viruses, among others;
• An email threats engine (available in May) that detects and defuses HTML scripts before they can do damage, thereby guarding against HTML viruses as well as attacks directed at an enterprise network via HTML email; and
• An email content and attachment checking module that screens all incoming and outgoing email for suspicious keywords, phrases and extensions, and then quarantines suspect mail and attachments. This feature stops lethal attachments such as .vbs files; blocks offensive content, information leaks, and bandwidth-hogging attachments such as MP3 or .mpg files; and detects when an attachment file extension has been renamed.

Pricing, specifications and availability
GFI MailSecurity comes both in a VS API (Virus Scanning API) edition that integrates seamlessly with Exchange Server 2000 (available now from authorized distributors or online http://www.gfi.com) and in a gateway version that can be used with either Exchange Server or any SMTP server (available for beta download at http://www.gfi.com/mailsecurity). The gateway version is designed to be deployed at the perimeter of the network as a mail relay server. Pricing for both editions begins at US$295 for 10 users. The price includes a year of free anti-virus engine updates. More product information can be found at http://www.gfi.com/mailsecurity.