Equant to offer Trend Micro's Internet virus protection as a managed service to its customers worldwide

SecureData, and ERP.com company and the exclusive sub-Saharan distributors of Trend Micro, a leading provider of enterprise antivirus and content security software and services today announced a technology licensing agreement between Trend Micro and Equant , operator of the world's largest network, providing voice, data, Internet, integration, and application services to companies around the globe. This agreement will enable Equant to offer Trend Micro Internet gateway virus protection as a managed service in order to protect multinational companies' networks from computer viruses and other malicious code.

It took less than one week for the "I love you" email virus to cause damage costing corporations more than $700 million in lost time and productivity, according to ICSA.net, an affiliate of Gartner Group Inc., in Stamford, Conn.1 By outsourcing Internet Gateway virus protection to the experts at Equant, companies can minimise the chances of costly network virus outbreaks and the associated downtime and productivity loss associated with them.

Equant will offer technology found in Trend Micro's flagship product, InterScan VirusWall as well as the award-winning eManager to provide its customers with real-time virus detection, cleaning and content filtering for email traffic as part of its Managed Firewall Service. The service enables companies to gain access to best-of-breed Firewall and VirusWall protection that is globally monitored and managed 24 X7. By utilizing this service, customers are relieved from having to deploy internal resources to support and manage Internet security, enabling them to focus instead on their core business. Initially, the virus scanning service will be offered to Equant's Managed Firewall Service customers, but eventually the service may be extended to other Equant services as well.

"Equant chose Trend Micro's technology for its scalability and proven effectiveness." said Peter Glock, product manager, security services, at Equant, "Gateway-based Internet virus protection is a necessary network management service in today's Internet-driven economy. Not only will Trend Micro provide the flexibility and easy integration Equant need for worldwide deployment but more importantly this leading-edge technology will deliver peace of mind to their customers."

Trend Micro's InterScan VirusWall provides a high-performance antivirus solution at the Internet gateway, stopping viruses and other malicious code before they can spread through servers and to desktops. SMTP, HTTP, and FTP traffic is scanned for the latest Trojans and viruses as well as for malicious ActiveX and Java code. InterScan VirusWall is OPSEC certified to integrate with state-of-the-art Checkpoint Firewall-1 software, the technology used by Equant to protect its managed firewall customers. OPSEC-certified status is granted to solutions that have undergone and passed rigorous testing by Check Point Software and ensures that InterScan VirusWall and VPN-1/FireWall-1 operate together for seamless administration and operation, and central policy-based management. InterScan VirusWall is also certified to detect 100% of "in-the-wild" viruses by the International Computer Security Association (ICSA).

As part of the agreement, Equant will be provided with priority access to the latest virus pattern files from Trend Micro to ensure their customers are protected with the latest and best protection available. Equant will also be using Trend Micro's eManager, a plug-in for InterScan that manages spam, message content and mail delivery. eManager can also be used to stop email-spamming viruses, such as the infamous Melissa and Loveletter Trojan worms, even before updated virus protection is deployed to provide maximum protection against fast-spreading Internet viruses.

"We are very excited that Equant has chosen to offer Trend Micro's antivirus solution to its global network of corporate customers," said Wayne Biehn, Sales Director, SecureData.

With this announcement Equant becomes the newest member of Trend Micro's eDoctor Global Network. Providing a better defence against Internet viruses, the eDoctor Global Network is a worldwide Internet antivirus initiative comprised of Managed Service Providers (ISPs, ASPs, email outsourcers and telcos) which rely on Trend Micro technology to provide value-added content security services to their clients. Qwest, MCI Worldcom, Sprint, PSINet, BT, NTT, Telstra, Compaq Services, Pilot and USi are among the other leading service providers which have chosen Trend Micro as their content security partner.