COMPUTER company Sophos is linking up with a US firm to offer a system to protect PC users from Internet-borne viruses, writes Maggie Hartford.

Sophos, based at Abingdon Science Park, was one of the first companies to find an antidote to the Love Bug, which crippled thousands of computers worldwide.

Now the Abingdon company is offering a system which will destroy rogue e-mails before they reach computer users.

Sophos has announced a technology partnership with Internet mail server company Sendmail, based in California, to protect enterprise and service provider customers from viruses spread via the Internet.

The Sophos Anti-Virus Interface will be linked up with Sendmail's products so that servers can scan for viruses, eliminating them before they reach desktop computers.

Graham Cluley, of Sophos, said: "Internet Mail has become an essential communication tool for business and so it is imperative that viruses are detected and destroyed at the Internet gateway.

"By combining Sophos anti-virus technology with the Sendmail Switch, we are effectively policing the front-line, ensuring that the company's internal mail systems are not open to infection."

The link-up with Sendmail, a major provider of Internet mail servers based in California, allows inbound and outbound messages, including attachments, to be scanned as they pass through the mail routing system.

Sophos, set up by Dr Lammer and a fellow Oxford engineering research student Dr Jan Hruska, has expanded rapidly over the past few years and staff numbers are expected to grow next year from 195 to 250-300.