Domain name registrar checks the mail

October 14th, 2002
By Dinah Greek (vnunet.com)

Domain name registrar Internetters has launched an antivirus and spam-detecting service for its customers. The domain name and website hosting company believes it is the only UK registrar offering to check all mail that goes through its servers for viruses and spam.

Ken Sorrie, co-founder and director of Internetters, told vnunet.com that the service, particularly targeting spam, was born out of desperation.

"The development was partially driven by our own frustration at the levels of viruses and spam emails we were receiving, as well as customer complaints about this.

"We looked at other registrars' websites but couldn't easily find any references to such services. I am sure that other registrars will be following suit by introducing similar services in due course," Sorrie said.

Internetters claims that its service, which uses software filters developed for the company, highlights spam messages by methodically checking each message against several hundred well-known attributes of spam.

Each factor carries a rating based on regular analysis of spam emails. If the total rating exceeds a given overall level, the message is highlighted as spam and sent to the inbox. This gives the receiver the option to choose whether to read or delete the message.

In addition the service - which will cost users 23.50 per year per domain - acts as an antivirus filter, and is updated twice a day to stop and remove all known viruses and newly developed attacks.

If the software detects any viruses, a report is sent immediately to the sender.