Company E-mail Policies Failing as Mydoom Computer Virus Spreads Rapidly; Clearswift Urges Organizations to Improve Content Filtering Defenses and Education Efforts.

Business Editors

SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 27, 2004

Clearswift, the MIMEsweeper(TM) company, today called on organizations to redouble their efforts in educating employees on safe e-mail policies as the Mydoom virus continues to spread rapidly.

Mydoom is a mass-mailing worm which spread quickly through the United States overnight and has begun hitting Windows-based systems in Britain. Computer users receive an e-mail which appears to be a failed sent message and an attachment. The e-mails have a range of different subject lines including "test," "Mail Delivery System" or "Mail Transaction Failed."

The attachment can appear to be a common ZIP file but is actually malicious code which infects the computer when opened. It installs software allowing the computer to be controlled remotely and also records keystrokes so passwords can be stolen.

"While the computer security community is examining why this virus is spreading so rapidly, it is clear that human error is playing a large part and too many computer users are being tricked into opening the attachment and spreading the virus," Clearswift's Threatlab manager, Pete Simpson, said. "Companies are either not doing enough to educate their employees on safe e-mail use policies or employees aren't listening. Organizations need to continually educate users on the dangers of opening unexpected e-mail attachments from suspect sources."

This latest virus outbreak demonstrates why organizations should be blocking potentially unsafe attachments at the gateway and not relying on AV tools alone. "It also shows how some of the inferior e-mail content filtering software is failing organizations through a simple renaming of an EXE attachment to a ZIP file. Clearswift MAILsweeper(TM) for SMTP's superior content analysis would not be fooled by this and simply filter the e-mail out," said Simpson.

Clearswift MAILsweeper(TM) for SMTP analyzes incoming and outgoing e-mail at the Internet gateway, allowing organizations to implement management and security policies to block inappropriate e-mails, comply with legal requirements, and increase user productivity. MAILsweeper(TM) for SMTP safeguards intellectual property and confidential information, defends against inappropriate use of e-mail and helps protect against virus infiltration, denial of service attacks and spam.

About Clearswift

Clearswift is the world's leading provider of software for managing and securing electronic communications. Clearswift solutions ensure business compliance through safe messaging, secure boundaries and best practice in electronic communications. Clearswift delivers the capabilities for organizations to protect themselves against e-mail and Web-based threats, meet legal and regulatory requirements, implement productivity-saving policies and manage intellectual property passing through their network.

Clearswift's software portfolio includes the award-winning MIMEsweeper(TM), a product family for e-mail and Web e-policies. More information about Clearswift, its products and services is available at www.clearswift.com.