Symantec is to make available new filter and block services for e-mail. The company will release two security appliances that merge antispam and virus-protection technologies. Mail Security 8100 and 8200 provide integration of antivirus, content-filtering and traffic management capabilities with antispam technology. Such antispam tech was acquired by Symantec last year when it bought software vendor Brightmail.

The 8200 is designed to restrict or block messages coming from servers that send spam. It also can check messages for viruses and scan inbound and outbound content for prohibited material, said Daniel Freeman, a product manager at Symantec.

The 8100 is targeted at larger customers, and it includes many of the features that are in the 8200, with one major addition. The 8100 offers a patent-pending function that's designed to control the flow of e-mail by identifying spam servers and slowing the rate at which they can send messages to a corporate network.

Still, all of this great technology does come at a price. The 8200 starts at $1,995 and the 8100 starts at $4,995.