Version 2 includes mail server functionality aiming to enable smaller companies to easily manage their own mailboxes and minimise bandwidth costs on internal mail.

Sales director, Dylan Winik, says that external threats and internal staff abuse are responsible for over 25% of downtime at companies, who cannot afford to have their systems down or their staff wasting time.

WD Guard is designed to protect companies from these threats but is more than a simple firewall solution, he adds. We monitor Internet and system usage, and company owners can restrict and control usage, saving huge amounts of money, Winik says. He adds that, according to research, about one out of every five days are lost to the Internet, and, unfortunately, a high percentage of Internet abuse happens during working hours.

Kevin Daly, owner of data business, Value-Ad, believes WD Guard does exactly what it needs to, in that it protects his network without him even knowing it is operating in the background. Daly comments: It give me incredible peace of mind knowing my systems, network and data are being protected automatically.

Additional benefits to Value-Ad include the ability for the current product to allow his business and network to grow without additional costs, he says. The network management and control features are already in the product, so growth is catered for, Daly adds.

The mail server feature is designed to download the global mailbox and to allow internal management of staff e-mail addresses locally. The bandwidth usage and cost of internal to internal mail is eliminated because the mail is sent internally, Winik says.