The UK Government's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) hopes to put up an effective barrier against virus attacks by offering consumers a free version of its SyBard/Mail email virus protection software.

The Agency claims that the software stops unauthorised emails being sent out automatically by alerting the sender to anything suspicious.

At present, the most common solution for virus problems is antivirus software which scans the content of messages. However, email-based viruses mutate at regular intervals and antivirus software often doesn't pick up the new variations. Nor can it do anything about stemming the propagation of viruses that spread by using the information in users' address books.

While SyBard/Mail will not stop a system being infected by a virus, it will prevent the infection spreading via email. A dialogue box pops up notifying the user is of any suspicious outgoing messages, which can then be deleted.

Another benefit is that, because no email is sent without the user's knowledge, SyBard/Mail can also stop any leaking of personal information.

The software is available as a free download from the www.dera.gov.uk website and will work on Windows PCs that use Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express.

If enough people use the software viruses such as the recent devastating 'I Love You' will be unable to spread and do so much damage.