MessageLabs is a Managed Service Provider (MSP) specialising in Internet-level email security services. Through their SkyScan portfolio of services customers are protected from threats such as viruses, unsolicited mail, malicious and sensitive content and pornography, before they come anywhere near their network boundaries or desktops.

The SkyScan services are powered by a global network of email processing engines, or 'Control Towers', which currently span the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, the US and Hong Kong. The network is centrally managed from a Global Operations Centre in the UK and scans email for over 500,000 users with no discernible impact on delivery times.

MessageLabs' flagship service is SkyScan AV, a managed and multi-layered anti-virus service, which comes with an unprecedented 100% guarantee against all past, present and future viruses. MessageLabs are the only company in the world to provide this all-inclusive protection from all known and unknown viruses. Some conventional AV software vendors currently claim to protect their customers from all known viruses (those on the infamous 'Wildlist') but cannot provide sufficient protection against new outbreaks.

The SkyScan AV service received world-wide recognition for stopping and naming the LoveBug virus, and protecting all of its customers, ten hours before an official fix was publicly available. The LoveBug virus was detected by Skeptic, MessageLabs' patented and revolutionary heuristics virus scanner, which uses ground-breaking artificial intelligence to detect new viruses without the need for signatures. Running alongside three commercial scanners, Skeptic constitutes the last and most advanced barrier in MessageLabs virus-scanning system.

With the development of its porn-filtering service, Skyscan AP, MessageLabs is now able to provide its customers with the most sophisticated image-analysis technology on the market. The service is 95% effective and is able to differentiate between porn, harmless holiday snaps and artistic nudes. Via its customer extranet: Insight, MessageLabs enables employers to choose the level of censorship appropriate for their organisation.

The SkyScan services are sold directly and through partners who include UUNET, BT, Cable and Wireless, Concert, Ision-Energis, KPN Telecom and Telia and are used by a number of blue chip organisations including Air Products, Bank of England, BOC, Conde Nast, Fujitsu, Logica, Manpower, Rentokil Initial and Vodafone.

MessageLabs has become a highly respected source of informed comment and virus data for the regional, national and International press. In addition to being the first company to stop and name the LoveBug, MessageLabs played a crucial part in alerting the public to the dangers of the Anna Kournikova virus, the Homepage virus and more recently the SirCam virus outbreaks, all of which occurred this year.

By logging onto MessageLabs' 24hour live virus news service: VirusEye, anyone with an interest in email security can obtain up to the minute information on the latest virus news. VirusEye has continual live data feeds from the MessageLabs Global Network of Control Towers which are collated and analysed by its anti-virus technicians. Information available through VirusEye includes details on the top ten viruses on a daily, monthly and ongoing basis; volumes of intercepted viruses; infection rates; global outbreak maps; the top ten virus cards, detailing information about individual viruses, and the MessageLabs virus threat list.

A member of the Star Technology Group, MessageLabs is part of an organisation with over 350 employees and offices in the UK, US and Hong Kong. The Group recently raised £25 million from two leading US investment firms to fund further expansion, making it one of the fastest growing technology companies in the UK. Born out of Star Internet, one of the UK's largest ISP's, MessageLabs has had a unique opportunity to understand the challenges faced by businesses at the Internet level.

For more information on MessageLabs and the SkyScan service portfolio,
call 0800 917 77 33 or email info@messagelabs.com. 

You can visit the MessageLabs website at www.messagelabs.com