Newsletter International Q2 2011

EDITORIAL: Virus protection is essential - now more than ever!

The crossing of two strains of bacteria has led to the development of a new, unfamiliar form of EHEC bacteria which doctors are currently battling. What does this have to do with IT, you ask? The term “virus” for computer pests is no accident. Computer viruses, too, are constantly changing, sometimes even completely automatically. In this way they can bypass protection mechanisms such as virus filters and attack their host systems before then going after their actual target. The frantic search for the cause of the EHEC outbreak is similar in so many ways to the efforts seen in the IT security industry. IT security companies are in a constant battle against malicious software in order to protect the IT systems of their clients from becoming infected.

We are currently also experiencing a phase of increased “risk of contraction” in the IT field: the shut-down of the Rustock spam factory, which was responsible for the massive botnet that sent millions of spam messages, has resulted in a massive decline in the volume of spam sent in recent weeks. Unfortunately this is no reason to neglect our work — on the contrary: the operators of botnets, which can return high profits by sending spam, must rebuild and expand their networks. This involves infecting other computers (systems) with malicious software, which then uses these computers to send spam messages. For this reason, the shut-down of massive botnets is regularly followed by virus attacks.

antispameurope protects its clients’ email communications with a multi-stage detection system. This newsletter explains exactly how this works.

On that note, I wish all readers an infection-free time!

Best regards,
Oliver Dehning