AOL details safety features of upcoming software

America Online (AOL) detailed some of the safety features of its upcoming AOL 9.0 software for broadband Monday, including adaptive spam and URL-filtering, and even a new feature to address instant messaging (IM) spam.

The safety push underscores AOL’s secure and family-friendly Net strategy and is also meant to gun against similar offerings from rival Microsoft’s MSN service.

AOL 9.0 for broadband, due out mid-2003 first as a download exclusively available to AOL members and then broadly available, will feature e-mail anti-virus scanning, a customized firewall, adaptive spam filtering and enhanced parental controls.

The software will be available both as part of AOL’s bundled service and for users of AOL’s bring-your-own-access (BYOA) service where users connect using a third-party broadband provider.

“This package provides security features no matter whose broadband connection subscribers are using,” said AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein.

The software has new antispam offerings such as a “spam” e-mail folder where suspected spam is automatically routed, as well as image and URL-blocking from unknown e-mail senders.

AOL 9.0 also scans outgoing and incoming e-mail attachments for viruses. The company recently introduced this service for its current users and said Monday that it now blocks more than one million viruses each day from reaching user in-boxes.

A new “IM Catcher” feature will capture IM’s sent from people not on users’ Buddy Lists and add them to a box which users can manage later.

“This is a pretty innovative feature,” Weinstein said, ” because IMs from people you don’t know are saved in a small box in the corner of your screen and don’t interfere your workflow.”

Additionally, AOL has teamed with Network Associates to offer a customized firewall, giving users the option of blocking access to sensitive flies and data.

“This offering is pretty timely as security issues are on almost everyone’s minds at the moment,” said DK Matai, executive chairman of U.K.-based security firm mi2g.

AOL is not the only security-focused Internet software provider. Last week Microsoft announced an upgrade to its MSN 8 software that also featured bolstered security and parental control features.

Both competitors have been working to offer extra security in their Internet offerings.

And while Matai said that spam filtering and virus scanning are important features, issues such as identity theft and moving the security onus away from users and more on the server side still need to be addressed.

However, Weinstein noted that these new user features are meant as a complement to AOL’s own efforts both on stopping spam on the server side and in dragging spammers to the court room.

“We are offering users a full security package that doesn’t require a Ph.D. to use,” Weinstein said.