iProtect E-mail Virus Protection Service
E-mail is widely regarded as the most common source of computer viruses (including "worms", "trojans" and other malicious code). The Primus E-mail Virus Protection service will protect your Primus e-mail address(es) against most viruses. (It does not detect viruses from other sources, such as Internet downloads, diskette or CD-ROMs)
What effects can an e-mail virus have?
A computer virus is a malicious piece of code, generally disguised as something much more innocent. Most viruses are designed to cause undesirable results on your computer, with extreme cases leaving your computer inoperable, often requiring timely and costly repairs.
Viruses, as diverse as they are, have a few basic characteristics:
- A virus is often designed so that it automatically spreads to other computer users.
- Viruses can be transmitted as attachments to an e-mail, as downloads, or be present on a diskette or CD.
- The source of the e-mail, downloaded file, or diskette you've received is often unaware of the virus.
- Some viruses take effect as soon as you open the attachment; other viruses lie dormant until circumstances cause their code to be executed by the computer.
Each subscriber to the Primus E-mail Virus Protection service will receive virus detection, cleaning or prevention and notification on most incoming e-mail to your Primus e-mail address(es).
How will I know if I had a virus?
Each e-mail you receive will be processed by the Primus E-mail Virus Protection service. When an e-mail is found to contain a virus, you will receive a notification e-mail describing where possible:
- How the e-mail was processed;
- The nature of the e-mail;
- The type of virus that was found; and
- E-mail address of the sender.
If the e-mail is from a trusted source ie. friend, family, colleague, you will then be able to contact the sender and inform them that their e-mail is infected.
Example email notification:
Will all my Primus e-mail address(es) be protected from viruses?
Unlike some Internet Service Provider anti-virus services, Primus' E-mail Virus Protection service does not charge based on individual mailboxes. All e-mail address(es) that are allocated to your Primus Internet access account, will be protected against viruses for the one low monthly fee. That's up to 7 mailboxes on some Internet access plans.
Features and Benefits
Primus E-mail Virus Protection vs. Desktop Anti-Virus software
The following table compares some of the features of Primus E-mail Virus Protection (which is a server-based anti-virus program) with the desktop-based counterpart.
| Primus E-mail Virus Protection (Server Based) |
Desktop Based |
| No additional software required |
Software required which consumes PC resources (CPU, RAM and hard drive space) |
| Updates for new virus patched automatically on Primus' servers. |
New virus updates must be downloaded, giving time for virus infection to occur. |
| Immune to virus attacks |
Virus attacks aimed at shutting down well-known anti-virus clients |
| Spam and viruses stopped at the server level - they never get to your PC. |
Many programs only stop unwanted traffic at your PC itself, adding to your downloads and potentially causing issues. |
| No installation needed |
Ongoing installations necessary. |
| Does not protect against viruses from sources other than your incoming Primus e-mail |
Does protect against viruses from internet downloads and diskettes and CDs |
For the best protection against virus threats, Primus recommends the use of an updated anti-virus desktop program in conjunction with the Primus E-mail Protection service. That way you are assured of regular updates to combat new viruses on your e-mail source and protection locally on your PC.