Hi Everybody,

Does anybody use GFi Mail Security software to prevent contamination via e-mail?. They offer to run the following tests on your system:

"You have just visited http://www.gfi.com/emailsecuritytest
and you have requested GFI to send you these tests by
email to check if your email system is vulnerable to
the following email threats:

o VBS file vulnerability test
o CLSID extension vulnerability test
o MIME header vulnerability test
o Malformed file extension vulnerability test (for Outlook 2002 - XP)
o GFI's Access exploit vulnerability test
o Object Codebase vulnerability test
o Eicar anti-virus test
o Fragmented Message test"

My system is Windows XP, connected to the Internet via a DSL conneection, is supposedly protected by AVG Antivirus,
Ad-Aware, Tauscan and Outlook Firewall. Still I failed Eicar antivirus, CLSID and Object Codebase tests. I am not even sure that the software I have is supposed to stop these things from happening.

I will be grateful for any comments or suggestions that anybody has. Thank you for your help, Tym.

PS. I am not new to computing or Windows, but new to XP, Tauscan and Outlook.

Are you failing the "eicar test" from the Eicar Website or from the GFI Mail Security Site? Many sites that show that you are vulnerable and need to buy their product are using bogus, but spoofing tricks to get you to purchase their product. It is very important that you use security tests from reputable sites to prevent these people from making a profit from you. If you want to check your system for the proper security setup try these: Eicar, PC Pitstop, PC Flank, Browsercheck and Gibson Research. Just to let you know I use Tauscan, but I am sure the name of your firewall is Outpost. If you use Outlook/Express for your email, make sure that you disable the preview pane in view>layout, and that you have the security settings tools>options>security set to the proper settings to prevent virus attachments. All the best!

Thanks for your comments capt. You are right, it is the Outpost that I am using, and it passes the Gibson Research and Pittstop tests. When I download the virus from the Eicar site directly my AVG v6 AV stops it dead!
The GFI product is priced at $399 for ten mailboxes. It is clearly aimed at Corporations. I must have gotten their offer through some general security site I subscribe to.
I have tightened my security settings in Outlook Express but I find it is a constant battle between the tight settings I would really like to have and the ability to cruise the Internet easily.
Once again thanks for your help.