Today, IT departments around the globe were called to battle the latest computer virus that veiled itself as a love letter. On the battlefield was NetCom Solutions South Africa (SA), Ltd.`s network security specialists.
As part of NetCom Solutions SA`s comprehensive security solutions offering, anti-virus protection software developed by Sophos, one of the world`s largest specialist developers of anti-virus and encryption software, is available to organizations seeking to protect their most valuable assets - information and the ability to easily communicate via the Internet.
Rothnie Oosthuizen., systems administrator at M-Net, said M-Net stopped the spread of the `love bug` virus yesterday using mimesweeper provided by NetCom Solutions.
"Within 5 minutes of becoming aware of the virus, it was contained. We were highly impressed with how easily and quickly the problem was dealt with by Mimesweeper. Not a single system had to be taken down. M-Net was thus unaffected by the `love bug`, " said Oosthuizen.
Gareth La Grange, IT Security Officer at TMA, part of the Fedsure Group, said, "I was very impressed by the rapid response offered by NetCom Solutions to our e-mail borne 'Love Bug` virus problem yesterday. We had shut down our firewall and exchange servers to stop the spread of the Melissa-like virus. A NetCom Mimeweeper technician was on site within a half hour and normal communications were resumed within an hour."
The love letter virus, a worm now officially known as the VBS.LoveLetter.A, was first detected Wednesday night but became widely notorious on Thursday as it began its global sweep. By late morning on Thursday, Sophos made available an IDE (virus signature) file that enables Sophos Anti-Virus versions 3.31 to 3.33 to detect the virus and protect users.
The virus arrives in an e-mail message with the subject "ILOVEYOU." It carries an attached file titled LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs and the text "kindly check the attached LOVELETTER coming from me." Because it is based on Visual Basic script, the worm infects only computers that have Visual Basic, which is included with Windows 2000.
While the virus hit many in South Africa hard, users of Sophos Anti-Virus were protected before lunchtime. Sophos` rapid response and NetCom Solutions SA`s direct customer contact mirror the principle that anti-virus protection is a service and not just a piece of software.
"Our customers in South Africa are finding that this is exactly what they need to solve their virus problems. For some companies it is a novel experience to receive genuine support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," said Paul Ducklin, Sophos` head of global support.
NetCom Solutions SA`s technical personnel are trained to provide full-service support of Sophos Anti-Virus to the South African market. Sophos` unique solution to the virus problem provides true cross-platform protection in a single, fully integrated product. The network-centric design provides a host of benefits for the protection of servers, workstations and portables. Sophos` groundbreaking architecture maximises protection and productivity, while minimising performance and administrative overheads. Sophos Anti-Virus is a fully scalable solution available for all popular desktop and network operating systems.
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NetCom Solutions SA, Ltd.
NetCom Solutions SA, Ltd., a subsidiary of NetCom Solutions International, Inc., provides the delivery of communication services and solutions to client-partners through the combination of strategy, people, technology and processes. As a single-source service solutions partner, the company provides end-to-end solutions that support the information technology and networking needs of client-partners across southern Africa.
Sophos
Sophos is one of the world`s largest specialist developers of anti-virus and encryption software. The products are sold and supported through a global network of subsidiaries and distributors in more than 40 countries. Sophos Anti-Virus is widely used by large corporations, banks and governments.
All product names and trademarks mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of NetCom Solutions South Africa or their respective owners.