Integrates easily

MXtreme provides virus scanning as a cost option. When enabled, all messages passing through - inbound and outbound - the MXtreme Mail Firewall are scanned. As a store and forward relay, MXtreme can easily integrate with other solutions.

Main features

The scanning engine can be configured (based on the user's purchase of the option) to use either Trend Micro's VSAPI or Kaspersky Lab's AntiVirus technology. It is tightly integrated in to the mailer for maximum efficiency. Every hour, MXtreme automatically polls servers for a more recent pattern file and downloads it if necessary, which minimizes the exposure to new viruses.

Attachments are recursively disassembled to ensure that viruses cannot be concealed.

When a message is determined to contain a virus, it may be deleted, quarantined or the event simply logged. Quarantined messages may be viewed, forwarded, downloaded or deleted. Automatic messages may be generated to the sender, recipient and system administrator.

Message Integrity Checks

Many viruses are getting past scanners by being cleverly concealed in mal-formed messages. The scan engines cannot detect the attachment and therefore pass the complete message through to an internal server. Some mail clients, notably MS Outlook, are very forgiving of mal-formed messages, and re-build the message in a way that reveals or activates the attachment. If that is a virus, it can now do its work.

Other mal-formed messages have been used to attack mail servers directly. MS Exchange has been the target of several of these. The Exchange servers have either been crashed, compromised or rendered useless by DoS attacks.

MXtreme carries out the most extensive message integrity checks available. Researchers have identified over 350 malformations that may elude virus scanners. MXtreme successfully detects and rejects ALL of them.

Benefits

The MXtreme Firewall provides a number of significant benefits either on its own or when deployed in conjunction with other virus protection technology:

Perimeter defense

MXtreme scans and traps viruses before they penetrate internal systems. If there is no current server based virus scanning and there are multiple mail systems to be protected, MXtreme provides a cost-effective, centralized solution.

Defense in depth

If virus scanning is already deployed at the server or desktop level, MXtreme can act as a second layer of defense. This increases the chances that viruses will be detected and, given the damage caused by viruses, may be a good investment.

An important aspect of virus control is to prevent their spreading internally or externally. By focusing all mail delivery through MXtreme this can be prevented. Other content checks can also be made at this point.

Finally, MXtreme's Message Integrity checks will ensure that only correctly formatted messages will be passed on to internal virus scanners.

Performance

Many virus scanners are plug-ins to proprietary or open-source mailers. Messages are received and then passed to an external process for scanning. This creates difficulties if a system is heavily loaded.

MXtreme has integrated its scan engine directly into the mailer. All message handling and scanning is done in the same process. This provides tremendous performance and close to 0% latency.

MXtreme is a trademark of Borderware Technologies Inc..