NTL tightens up its security

Telecommunication and TV provider NTL has beefed up its network security by deploying an "anti-abuse" system to protect customers from viruses and Trojans, and eventually spam as well.

NTL has bought Openwave's Edge Gx Anti-Abuse product, which is designed for ISPs. Openwave claims it prevents spam, virus and Trojan emails and has caught up to 20 million unsolicited messages a day sent to NTL.

"NTL is working hard to provide the highest possible levels of protection to our customers from spam and viruses," said Bill Goodland, director of Internet at NTL. "We have a programme in place to enhance the service we offer our Internet customers and the partnership with Openwave is integral to this effort. [This] is a good start, but it's only the beginning — we intend to introduce additional levels of customer protection and support over the coming months."

The product uses antivirus filtering from McAfee and will include spam filtering from Brightmail.

"The ISP community is coming under increasing attack from unsolicited messages and this needs to be controlled," said Paolo Pescatore, senior research analyst at IDC. "Service providers need to be more aggressive when it comes to blocking spam. Without the necessary defences in place, revenues and brand loyalty will continue to be at risk as subscribers switch between providers."

At the Infosecurity Europe conference this week, security experts accused ISPs of not doing enough to protect their customers from malware.