Email Viruses Increase in 2004

Ever since 2002, L-Soft has bundled anti-virus protection with its email list software through a strategic partnership with F-Secure. This historic alliance has proven to be more and more valuable with every passing year. Indeed, the year 2004 marked the first time that the number of known viruses passed the 100,000 mark, according to F-Secure's Security Report (www.f-secure.com/2004). In addition, Windows IT Pro reports that as many as one out of every 16 email messages is infected with a virus.

"Customers with a central anti-virus system are always surprised to see that LISTSERV blocks a few viruses now and then," says Eric Thomas, L-Soft's CEO. "The sheer number of viruses that propagate through email dictates a 'belt-and-suspenders' approach to email list security, making LISTSERV's built-in virus protection relevant even if you already have some form of central protection."

"Email worms are the most common source of infections today," says Mikael Albrecht, Product Manager at F-Secure Corporation. "Spyware carried by email is getting worse and worse. L-Soft's products have a unique opportunity to fight viruses in an effective way and improve security significantly."

Statistics from L-Soft's ListPlex list hosting servers show a 32 percent increase between 2003 and 2004 in the number of viruses that F-Secure Anti-Virus stopped from reaching list subscribers. In April 2004 alone, more than 30,000 viruses were detected and one million messages were stopped before they could spread infection.

The built-in LISTSERV virus protection is available for customers with valid maintenance and support contracts. For more information about the service, please see: www.lsoft.com/products/listserv_av.asp.