Web hosting provider Covad (covad.com) has newly partnered with security solution provider McAfee (mcafee.com) to offer its customers McAfee Total Protection for Small Business services. The company said this follows its earlier release of enhanced email and Web hosting services to enable small businesses to quickly and easily establish a professional Internet presence with minimal cost.

McAfee Total Protection for Small Business provides an all-in-one service that manages updates automatically to protect desktops and servers against emerging threats. The product includes anti-virus and anti-spyware protection for desktop PCs and file servers, combined with a desktop firewall and McAfee SiteAdvisor to guard against viruses, spyware, identity thieves, phishing, unsafe browsing and hacker attacks.

The service also includes around-the-clock technical support as well as access to the McAfee SecurityCenter, an online management portal where customers will be able to see all their protected computers in one virtual place.

"Covad is excited to provide customers and partners with the first new managed service in our initiative that we call Business Essentials," said Eric Weiss, chief marketing officer at Covad. "We are very pleased that McAfee is partnering with us to give our small business customers the peace of mind that comes from deploying the industry's leading security solution."