Companies should use the fear if receiving Anthrax by post as a fillip to adopt new IT-based business processes.

Louis Halpem, CEO of edesigns.co.uk believes the threat of anthrax gives businesses a "new opportunity to rethink the value of the Internet".

"They should embrace anthrax as an opportunity to go back to the basics, and identify - from the ground up - all the parts of their business that can be made more productive using online solutions.

"They should jump on anthrax as a chance to transfer everything online; from internal and external communications, to marketing, to sales transactions, to distribution and so on.

He went on: "We can use anthrax as the catalyst we have been waiting for to increase our productivity."

Speaking to The Register Mr Halpem denied that the press release was a tasteless, perhaps cynical attempt to exploit a testing and uncertain time.

E-designs is an email marketing consultancy which carries out email marketing campaigns on behalf of clients. ®