Update: IBM to launch e-mail filtering managed service

MIAMI - IBM Corp. is partnering with MessageLabs Ltd. to provide a managed e-mail security service that filters messages for viruses, spam and inappropriate content before they reach a company's network and that uses a predictive technology designed to identify threats not yet defined.

The IBM offering, called E-mail Security Management Services, is based on an existing set of services from MessageLabs called MessageLabs Email Security System, said Michel Bobillier, global offering executive at IBM Global Services' Security and Privacy Services.

IBM brings to the table its support infrastructure and ongoing input from its research unit for continued improvements to the service, as well as the ability to integrate this e-mail protection service into its other managed security services, he said. Meanwhile, MessageLabs benefits from exposure for its service through IBM's sales channels, he said.

IBM's clients had been asking for a service such as this one, and IBM decided to partner with MessageLabs instead of developing the technology itself because it found MessageLabs' service to be excellent, he said.

The system filters both a company's incoming and outgoing messages to prevent malicious code and content from touching the network, Bobillier said.

"Building a defense in the (network) perimeter is not enough anymore. We need a more proactive way to protect critical applications, by filtering these messages before they reach the network," he said. "It's not safe enough to install some defense software on servers and desktops."

The system uses predictive algorithms to eliminate threats that haven't yet been discovered and defined by security vendors and experts, Bobillier said.

The service is aimed at medium-sized and large companies, starting with implementations of 50 users, he said. The offering consists of three components, which can be bought separately:

-- E-mail Anti-virus, for viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other threats of that nature

-- E-mail Image filtering, which uses composition image analysis to flag inappropriate images embedded in messages, such as pornographic content

-- E-mail Anti-spam, for blocking unsolicited commercial e-mail messages

Pricing varies according to the number of services contracted and the number of users. Prices are per month, per user beginning at US$1 to $2 for one service, IBM said.

Currently, the idea of contracting a managed service for security purposes isn't widespread among chief information officers, most of whom currently prefer to handle these security tasks internally, said Andrew Efstathiou, a Yankee Group analyst. Likewise, there aren't many vendors providing this type of service yet, he said.

However, the tide is beginning to change and demand for managed security services is rising fast, as the complexity of protecting IT infrastructures becomes more complicated for IT departments, he said. At the forefront of this complexity are e-mail systems, which are under constant attack from Internet-borne viruses and other types of attacks, he said.

"The demand for managed security services is being driven by the increasing openness of enterprise environments and by the rapid change of the nature of the threats. To have an external third-party provide managed security makes sense in order for companies to be responsive to new types of threats," Efstathiou said, adding that managed security services will become widespread in the coming two to three years.