These can only be avoided by blocking out scripts at email server level

London, UK, 5 May 2000 - Following the appearance of the Love Letter virus yesterday, GFI today announced that it expects several variants of the virus to appear over the next few weeks, using not only VB script but also Windows Scripting host, Java scripts and HTML scripts. The company warns that the only way to avoid being infected by them is to block these scripts at email server level.

"We are expecting a host of variants over the next few weeks. Today alone we have discovered 3 new viruses based on the love letter virus. Anyone with basic knowledge of visual basic scripting can create such a virus, so the script kiddies are sure to be at it immediately. VBS viruses propagate fast and an outbreak of such a virus cripples organizations that cannot function without their email systems. Variants could infect even those email users who are currently protected against the Love Letter virus," Nick Galea, GFI CEO said.

"The only way to attain foolproof protection against the Love Bug and all variants of it is to block all emails containing scripts at email server level," he explained. "Quarantining such emails in this way will ensure that email users are not infected. It is true that this will give rise to some false alarms, but it is also the only surefire way to prevent infection - especially as much more dangerous variants are likely to be released. "

Mr Galea pointed out that such protection could be obtained by using content checking gateways that install before mail servers, such as GFI's Mail essentials. "Anti-virus tools work by letting all emails in and then trying to disable a virus, whereas content checking tools like Mail essentials prevent entry in the first place, stopping all dubious messages which could be dangerous. In this way, Mail essentials functions like an email firewall."

Mail essentials is a comprehensive email security, content checking & anti-virus gateway. More information about Mail essentials can be found at http://www.gfi.com/me/index.html. The full version of Mail essentials is available from $295.