Lefatshe has already successfully sold and implemented 40 000 licences to government through Sita; and departments currently using SpySweeper include the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Administration and Sita itself.

More than 130 different security breaches during 2005, exposing more than 55m users to a wide range of illegal activities such as identify theft, have resulted in analysts branding it one of the worst years ever for data security losses, says Cheslyn Mostert, chairperson of Lefatshe. During 2005, Webroot identified more than 400 000 sites that host spyware alone. There is clearly a need for software that can address the spyware and adware problem, particularly as the larger anti-virus products are not equipped to detect the smaller, yet as dangerous, malware (malicious ware) applications.

In terms of the agreement, Lefatshe is responsible for marketing, sales, maintenance and support of SpySweeper, while Webroot will manage business focus groups and conferences for the region.

While financial institutions and individuals are constantly under threat of fraud and identity theft, there is a second, equally serious issue raised by the presence of malware - bandwidth reduction, Mostert says. Malware devours bandwidth in its efforts to constantly connect to its home site, resulting in extensive system degradation. Illustrating this point, IBM has reported that 30% of the calls made to its help desk regarding system crashes were the direct result of malware. Spyware and adware are best avoided, and SpySweeper provides the means to do this successfully.