COMPUTER experts at DERA are giving away their latest anti-virus software free to home computer users.

The revolutionary SyBard/ Mail software, which was unveiled to great interest at a trade show in April, can be downloaded from the Internet by any PC owners.

Its developers hope that widespread use of SyBard/Mail will slow to a crawl the previously devastating speed of infection seen in viruses such as Anna Kournikova.

The rapid worldwide spread of viruses like Kournikova or Lovebug show how vulnerable e-mail systems are to virus attack.

Where SyBard/Mail scores is that it contains the spread of e-mail viruses by blocking all unauthorised e-mail releases from infected computers.

It works with virtually all Windows-based e-mail applications, including MS Outlook and Outlook Express, Eudora, Netscape Messenger and Pegasus Mail.

Dr Simon Wiseman of DERA said: "We're confident that worldwide use of SyBard/Mail will dramatically reduce the damaging effects of global e-mail viruses.

"By making the software freely available for home computer users, we are making a major contribution to the fight against the malicious e-mail threat."

SyBard/Mail is part of the DERA SyBard::Suite integrated computer security package which is being made available in stages over the next 12 months.

To download your free SyBard/Mail, go to www. dera.gov.uk/sybard