Telstra 'filters' Net nasties for SMBs

Telstra has partnered with MessageLabs to provide small- and medium-sized businesses with an Internet connection that has been filtered of known junk e-mails, virus threats and phishing attacks.

The service is part of Telstra's set of Business Only Broadband (BOB) packages, which were announced last Friday. However, although subscribers will be safe from the majority of spam and phishing attacks, they will still require desktop-based antivirus to protect them from internal threats.

Andy Lake, director of partners at e-mail security firm MessageLabs, explained that the service cannot provide protection if malware comes from inside a network.

"It is always sensible to have antivirus on your desktop -- people come in with USB storage devices or CDs. Our message is always that security is a multi-layered thing.

"What they will now get from [Telstra and MessageLabs] is an additional layer of security -- it will stop all the rubbish before it gets to the network ... anti-spam, spyware and phishing is included," Lake told ZDNet Australia.

Telstra will have BOB Starter for start-ups, BOB Advantage for companies that are growing and BOB BDSL, for established firms. Only the Advantage and BDSL packages will include the MessageLabs filtering service.