Avg Launches New Protection Against Identity Theft, Boosts Free Product Protection

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3rd March 2009, 02:32am - Views: 1516





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AVG Launches New Protection Against Identity Theft, Boosts Free Product

Protection


AMSTERDAM, March 2 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --


      Latest upgrade aims to prevent newest digital threats from becoming

                              digital disasters


    Identity theft is now the number one Internet-based crime and claims

almost ten million online and offline victims at a cost of $48 billion in

the US alone, according to the Javelin Strategy & Research, 2008 Identity

Fraud Survey Report published last month. CIFAS, the UK's Fraud Prevention

Service, estimates that identity theft is costing that country's economy over

$3.4 billion annually. To help users protect their personal and private

information online, AVG Technologies, developer of the world's leading free

computer security product, today introduces AVG Identity Protection (IDP).


    AVG Identity Protection gives computer users an additional layer of

protection on top of their existing security software. IDP is specifically

focused on helping to prevent thieves from using carefully-targeted attacks

to steal passwords, bank account details, credit card numbers, and other

digital valuables. It uses a technology called behavioral analysis to make

sure all the programs running on a user's computer are operating the way they

should. If it spots something suspicious that could indicate an attempted ID

theft attack, it shuts that activity down, preventing any possible theft from

happening. It doesn't matter whether users are running AVG software or

security software from another vendor; IDP runs smoothly alongside all

popular programs to keep users safer when they're online.


    "Computer users need to be confident that when they're banking and

shopping online, they won't become a victim of identity theft," says AVG

Technologies CEO JR Smith. "Anti-virus alone can't give users the level of

security people need in today's complex, fast-moving threat landscape. AVG

Identity Protection gives them the confidence that they're safe from the bad

guys."


    AVG Identity Protection is the headline product in today's launch of an

across-the-board upgrade to the AVG family of security software for home and

small business users. The technology in IDP has also been combined with the

company's Internet Security suite, which provides total protection for all

aspects of users' online lives. In addition to the new Identity Protection,

AVG Internet Security defends against viruses, spyware, worms, hackers,

botnets, poisoned web pages, trojan horses, spam, and other cyberthreats with

a full arsenal of digital weaponry. Whether users are surfing, e-mailing,

instant-messaging, or downloading files, Internet Security stops threats from

becoming problems.


    "We know the security challenges users face in their daily lives," says

Smith. "Our products are designed to prevent those challenges from becoming

problems, leaving users free to get on with their digital lives. They're easy

to set up, easy to use, easy to find - and some of them are even free, for

ever."


    AVG's Free product also gets a boost with this upgrade, adding Active

Safe-Surf real-time protection to the existing anti-virus, anti-spyware,

instant message security and safe-searching capabilities. Today's web threats

move at lightning speed and only stay around long enough to scoop up their

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victim quota, so real-time detection is vital. Active Safe-Surf checks the

web page behind every link for hidden threats at the only time that matters -

when users are about to click on that link.


    Improvements to the small business products focus on the company's

Exchange Server products, which gain a long-awaited upgrade to centralized

anti-spam protection that will make life much easier for those tasked with

managing networked e-mail.


    A peek under the hood

    AVG Identity Protection is based around the technology AVG acquired when

it bought the Sana Security company earlier this year. This technology helps

to prevent identity-related attacks by analyzing the behavior and

characteristics of malicious programs and using the knowledge gained to

create protection that doesn't require "signature updates" to stay current.

The software is continuously learning and improving its protection, based on

information drawn from real threats encountered by real users, ensuring that

users are always protected against new and unknown threats.


    "Tens of thousands of new virus samples arrive in security companies'

labs every day," says AVG Technologies CTO Karel Obluk. "It is simply not

feasible for traditional signature-based anti-virus to keep up with this

level of activity from the bad guys. So while it's important to continue to

use anti-virus to protect against the known viruses that are out there 'in

the wild', it's vital for users to have an additional protective layer

against the unknown."


    AVG Active Safe-Surf further enhances users' protection against unknown

threats by analyzing web pages in real time for hidden threats and exploits

such as drive-by downloads. Unlike other safe-surf products which rely on

historical data acquired by periodically scanning sites across the Internet

based on a variety of criteria, Active Safe-Surf bases its safety ratings on

real-time analysis of individual web pages, ensuring an accurate assessment

of a page's current status.


    The new anti-spam module in AVG's Internet Security for SBS and E-mail

Server Edition is based around the widely-used Mailshell engine, ensuring

stability, compatibility, and ease of management from a central point. This

ease of use is further enhanced with the addition of a single installation

process for all components.


    Product availability and pricing

    The complete AVG 8.5 family of products is available now online and

    through retail and reseller channels.


    For more information on the complete range of AVG security products for



    Follow AVG on Twitter @OfficialAVGNews


    About AVG Technologies

    AVG is a global security solutions leader protecting more than 80 million

consumers and small business computer users in 167 countries from the

ever-growing incidence of web threats, viruses, spam, cyber-scams and hackers

on the Internet. Headquartered in Amsterdam, AVG has nearly two decades of

experience in combating cyber crime and one of the most advanced laboratories

for detecting, pre-empting and combating Web-borne threats from around the

world. Its free online, downloadable software model allows entry-level users

to gain basic anti-virus protection and then to easily and inexpensively

upgrade to greater levels of safety and defense in both single and multi-user

environments. Nearly 6,000 resellers, partners and distributors team with AVG

globally including Amazon.com, CNET, Cisco, Ingram Micro, Play.com, Wal-Mart,

and Yahoo!. More information is available at www.avg.com.



     SOURCE:   AVG Technologies


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    CONTACT:   Siobhan MacDermott of AVG Technologies, 

               +1-415-299 2945, mobile, +420-725-695-132, 

               siobhan.macdermott@avg.com



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