Marshal launches global Internet security threat monitoring portal

Integrated e-mail and Internet content security provider Marshal has launched its TRACE Centre Web site at www.marshal.com/trace to provide up-to-date statistics and information on spam, phishing, viruses and other Internet security threats.

10Net ICT Solutions distributes and supports Marshal in South Africa.

"Productivity and bandwidth suffer due to high levels of spam," says Riaan Otto, GM of 10Net ICT Solutions. "Conservative estimates put spam at large South African corporations at over 50% of all e-mail traffic, and in some government departments spam accounts for more than 90% of all e-mails."

The TRACE (Threat Research & Content Engineering) Centre allows visitors to the site to find answers to vexing questions such as:

* Which countries send the most spam?
* How much of your company bandwidth is being consumed by unwanted e-mail?
* How widespread a problem are phishing attacks?

The TRACE Centre is populated using information from Marshal's TRACE team of security experts and researchers, whose role it is to monitor Internet security threats and then identify and develop solutions to counter these threats. Initially, the site will focus on e-mail threats from spam, viruses and phishing; information on browsing threats will be added next year.

Bradley Anstis, director of product management at Marshal, says: "Part of the work performed by our TRACE team is to gather data on Internet threats. We monitor the behaviour of spammers, where phishing attacks are coming from and a large number of other tell-tale threat characteristics. The TRACE Web site is designed to be a resource for customers, media and anyone else who is interested in up-to-date information on online threats such as spam, viruses and phishing."

David Ferris, president and senior analyst at Ferris Research, says: "The proliferation of increasingly sophisticated and constantly evolving Internet threats such as spam, viruses, spyware and phishing, makes it difficult for companies to use the Internet effectively. Marshal's TRACE Centre is an excellent resource because it educates people on the latest dangers and provides advice on how companies can better protect themselves."

Information on the TRACE Centre Web site is derived from Marshal's extensive assortment of threat traps and honey-pot accounts. Large volumes of raw e-mail are captured and analysed by the TRACE team, using sophisticated, proprietary data analysis tools. The TRACE Team applies its knowledge and experience to the data, providing insight and commentaries into new developments and trends.

The TRACE Centre features a wide range of information including:

* Geographic hotspot maps for sources of spam and phishing;
* Ranking charts of the top spamming and phishing countries;
* Gauges showing the current level of spam as a percentage of all e-mail, the average size of spam messages, the level of image-based spam and Marshal's current spam detection rate;
* Graphs that display a breakdown of spam into different categories;
* Threat alert information services;
* News and commentaries on threat-related topics; and
* Resources such as whitepapers, reports and a free threat testing service.