Reflex Magnetics Stars in PKI Interoperability Trials !
January, 2002
The era of script viruses in e-mails has gone. London based IT security specialists Reflex Magnetics have secured the vulnerability that has existed in Microsoft's e-mail program Outlook. E-mail messages in HTML format can also contain macro viruses written in VBScript or JavaScript programming languages. These viruses are especially nasty because the user does not need to perform any potentially dangerous operations such as executing attached files. It is not even necessary to open the message - having it delivered to the users inbox and shown in the Outlook preview window is enough to infect the PC.
Now it is possible to use e-mail safely once again, with the addition of Reflex MailSafe. It does not matter what version of Outlook security update is installed, it does not matter if the user has access to any antiviral packages, it does not even matter if virus scanning is present but disabled. Reflex MailSafe Client automatically removes macro viruses from the e-mail body and thus closes one of the most dangerous channels of the virus distribution.
Besides plugging this most dangerous hole, when Microsoft Outlook is started Reflex MailSafe automatically detects and integrates with any supported antiviral package present on the local hard disk to provide by default virus scanning of all incoming and outgoing messages. Should a message be infected with a computer virus, a corresponding error message will be displayed and user will not be allowed to send or read the message contents.
Most popular antiviral packages are supported, in order to simplify support of these and other future products, the behaviour of the anti-virus engines are described in a special script language. The scripts are compiled and bundled together into a single archive, which is then distributed together with the Reflex MailSafe Client installation or separately over the Internet. In order to prevent unauthorised modification of these scripts, the anti-virus definition file is digitally signed.
This new addition to Reflex MailSafe also solves the previously thorny issue of how to deal with digitally signed or encrypted e-mail. Currently if you employ a boundary/gateway check of your organisations e-mail for malicious content signed or encrypted e-mail has either to be ignored or held in quarantine. Now it is possible to perform automatic virus scanning on decryption of all incoming mail. Further background information about e-mail borne viruses can be obtained from
Now it is possible to use e-mail safely once again, with the addition of Reflex MailSafe. It does not matter what version of Outlook security update is installed, it does not matter if the user has access to any antiviral packages, it does not even matter if virus scanning is present but disabled. Reflex MailSafe Client automatically removes macro viruses from the e-mail body and thus closes one of the most dangerous channels of the virus distribution.
Besides plugging this most dangerous hole, when Microsoft Outlook is started Reflex MailSafe automatically detects and integrates with any supported antiviral package present on the local hard disk to provide by default virus scanning of all incoming and outgoing messages. Should a message be infected with a computer virus, a corresponding error message will be displayed and user will not be allowed to send or read the message contents.
Most popular antiviral packages are supported, in order to simplify support of these and other future products, the behaviour of the anti-virus engines are described in a special script language. The scripts are compiled and bundled together into a single archive, which is then distributed together with the Reflex MailSafe Client installation or separately over the Internet. In order to prevent unauthorised modification of these scripts, the anti-virus definition file is digitally signed.
This new addition to Reflex MailSafe also solves the previously thorny issue of how to deal with digitally signed or encrypted e-mail. Currently if you employ a boundary/gateway check of your organisations e-mail for malicious content signed or encrypted e-mail has either to be ignored or held in quarantine. Now it is possible to perform automatic virus scanning on decryption of all incoming mail. Further background information about e-mail borne viruses can be obtained from
