Anyone using Windows who has problems with spam should check out
SpamPal which is a superb, very powerful and free spam filter that can be run on a local PC and should work with any email client.
The trouble is that it can't really work for viruses as they don't usually originate from normal spam sources. In fact they generally originate from the PC's of people who know you (as the virus will ahve found your email address by scanning someone's address book). Although the 'From:' address is generally faked so it is not alway obvious.
Most viruses do die out though, for about two weeks last month when the Sobig.F virus was rampant, the email server that I maintain at work pulled out 200 - 250 infected emails a day.) In between virus explosions it's usually about 10 - 20.
If you are using Windows then get a virus killer of some sort. Norton 2003 is pretty good and does scan all email traffic for viruses.
When one particular virus is a problem then just banning emails by subject line is often pretty good (most email viruses use a fixed list of subject lines) and means you can delete the mail from your server rather than be forced to download it. Use the Symantec web site to look up information on the virus that is causing problems, they often provide a list of possible subject lines.
Lozrus
