Stories by: Cara Garretson

SurfControl on Wednesday announced an upgrade to its e-mail security filter software that adds reputation services and new compliance features, while also easing policy management.

In the first half of 2007, corporate venture-capital groups -- those that are part of a larger corporation, not a private firm -- invested in start-up companies at levels rivaling those reached in 2001.

In the month of August to date, there have been 38 malicious-code attacks on instant-messaging networks, double the number experienced in July.

It appears that PDF spam has had its 15 minutes of fame.

Security vendor GFI Software has repackaged its WebMonitor software into three editions, designed to better target the needs of different organizations.

A spam blast released over the weekend invites recipients to see themselves in a YouTube video, but the included link directs them to a website that downloads a package of a dozen different pieces of malware.

Account confirmation spam is the latest spammer trick, asking recipients to confirm their account information with a bogus organization by logging into a Web site that is infected with the Storm Trojan malware. This latest technique is catching on: Account confirmation spam has grown in volume from 18 percent of all spam on Tuesday to 35 percent Wednesday.

There is 17% more spam heading for in-boxes today than there was yesterday, and spam watchers say it could get even worse before the summer is over.

Sendmail has released a new version of its Sentrion messaging security appliance that adds protection for outbound e-mail.

Postini on Monday announced discovery capabilities with its message archiving service and also announced three new plans for the existing service.

Joining the trend of providing security technology as a service, Proofpoint on Tuesday announced a hosted version of its messaging-security offering.