New at Zone: Varist – even stronger malware protection

Email remains one of the easiest ways for cybercriminals to get into businesses. Beyond phishing and scams, email-delivered malware is still one of the most common threats internet users face today. But there’s good news for users of our Premium Email services: since last autumn, their inboxes have been protected by what is likely one of the most effective antivirus technologies in the world.

From the very beginning, Zone has used a range of tools to protect email in our hosting services — from sender reputation checks to automatic malware scans of attachments. By relying on open-source technologies and best practices from the global cybersecurity community, we’ve helped our customers maintain strong digital hygiene.

However, some of our more security-conscious users — such as salespeople, brokers, consultants, and others — have asked for even more powerful protection.

That’s why we partnered with Varist, an Icelandic company that has been defending clients against malware for over 30 years. Today, Varist is one of the most innovative players in the industry. Their antivirus engine performs over 400 billion scans every day worldwide, using the most advanced detection techniques available.

Hackers often try to hide malware by compressing or obfuscating it, making it harder to detect and analyze. Varist can break down such files into their core components and quickly spot suspicious artifacts — whether it’s hidden scripts inside PDFs, macros in Office documents, or malicious files in zip archives.

The Varist antivirus engine is now fully integrated into our Premium Email services, designed for professionals who need maximum protection. Early results show that Varis detects significantly more threats than many free alternatives.

And importantly, we’ve made no compromises when it comes to performance or privacy. The Varis detection engine works without uploading your emails or files anywhere — everything stays securely within Zone’s servers.

You can choose and activate the Premium Email service in the MyZone control panel. For step-by-step instructions, visit our Support Centre.