A few months ago, Grisoft updated its AVG anti-virus suite to version 8 and bundled linkscanning, anti-spyware, and anti-rootkit software to boot. Now Grisoft's popular freeware anti-virus application is getting some of the same features. AVG Free 8 is out, and not only does it protect your system from viruses, but you get spyware detection as well.
AVG Free 8 doesn't have all of the features you get in the commercial version of the application. There's no rootkit protection or linkscanner. And there's no email or instant messaging integration. For those features you'll have to shell out $35 or $55 for the standard or "internet security" versions. But as freeware antivirus applications go, AVG is packed with features like real-time protection, daily updates, and complete system scans at regularly scheduled intervals.
Update: As several readers have pointed out in the comments, when you install AVG Free 8, you will likely find a bunch of advanced features like linkscanning and email protection. The AVG web site has a comparison chart showing that these features are included in the commercial version but not the free version. It's not clear if Grisoft is including free trials of these functions or if the chart is wrong.
Avira has released AntiVir Personal 8.1, a free antivirus appliation. Like popular free antivirus applications from Grisoft and Avast!, Avira offers a free basic security suite in the hopes of convincing some users to spring for a commercial version. The main difference between Avira and the competition, as far as we're concerned, is that Avira AntiVir will occasionally pop up nagware asking you to upgrade.
Pop ups aside, Avira AntiVir is pretty powerful, and the latest update brings a few improvements like increased scan speed and a redesigned visual interface. Another new feature, which isn't available in the free version, is the ability to create a system rescue CD.
Unlike some other antivirus applications, you can install AntiVir without uninstalling or even turning off your current antivirus program, which is always a plus.
Symantec has introduced Norton AntiVirus Dual Protection for Mac, a new software package that combines Norton AntiVirus 2008 for Windows with Norton AntiVirus 11 for Mac.
This package was designed for Mac users who have Windows installed on their machine, either as a separate partition (Boot Camp) or through the use of virtualization software such as Parallels and VMWare Fusion.
You've got to hand it to Norton: like some sort of Corporate Kamasutra, they position themselves in every way imaginable in order to suck up the bucks in the ever-competitive anti-virus market. While this is really just a shrewd repackage of existing products, the marketing and the sticker price (a reasonable $69.95) should convince a lot of users to pony up the dough.
If only Macs needed an antivirus solution...then this product would be invaluable (okay, we were just trying to rile a few feathers with that last remark).
Norton Antivirus Dual Protection for Mac requires OS X 10.4.10 or higher on the Mac side, and XP or Vista on the Windows side.
AVG is ready to pull the trigger on their new Anti-Virus suite, AVG Anti-Virus 8.0. From first looks, it's going to be a pretty major update. For starters, AVG Anti-Virus 8.0 will offer more than its standard Anti-Virus protection. Popular tools AVG Anti-Spyware, AVG Anti-Rootkit, and LinkScanner, previously stand-alone applications, are now integrated into AVG Anti-Virus 8.0. The code base has seen a significant overhaul as well, in the hopes that inevitable system slowdowns caused by AVG's real-time protection will be lessened.
AVG Anti-Virus remains one of the most popular free Anti-Virus solutions on the market, and this update will no doubt solidify their dominance. At the time of this writing, however, it's not exactly clear if the free edition will be updated at the same time as the paid edition, so if you aren't one for waiting, you might have to pay to see 8.0.
The full version of AVG will continue to offer an enhanced feature set, including tech support, greater scheduling capabilities, and support for newer multi-processor core chips.
In its ever-continuing quest to prevent piracy, the RIAA announced in a State of the Net conference on January 30th, that it likes the idea of filters on the end user's platform that will detect if a user is doing anything illegal with copyrighted material.
Why would anyone want to install such a filter? In a video excerpt from the conference over at Public Knowledge, an RIAA representative points out that users will install filters that benefit them such as antivirus software - therefore, copyright filters could be bundled with anti-virus software, integrated into modems, or put together with some sort of package from an ISP, to help detect copyright violations. The purpose, of such filters, would be primarily to create a workaround that prevents users from using encryption to avoid detection.
The question of the day then: how much money would the music industry have to pay anti-virus/spyware/malware companies to cover the cost of customers switching to alternatives that come without the copyright filter?
Symantec has just released a beta version of Norton 360 version 2.0, the latest update of the all-in-one protection suite for the PC.
Norton 360 version 2.0 claims a host of new and updated features:
Faster performance of virus scans
Faster boot times
New browser protections
New identity protections to manage passwords and sensitive information
Support for new backup destinations including HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, and even iPods
Comes in three flavors: apple, cherry, and tutti-frutti (okay, so we made this one up; just making sure you're paying attention out there)
The beta site has been refreshed with all the necessary information. You'll even see some fresh new fonts, Symantec's attempt at connecting with our hipster generation.
If you want to be a beta tester, no problem: the Norton 360 beta is available to all. You'll want to uninstall all previous Norton Antivirus solutions prior to installing the beta. And you know this already, but we'll say it anyway: Windows only.
In an amusing move that is sure to have caused a few flushed faces, Kaspersky Antivirus recently declared Windows Explorer malicious code. While we've known Explorer to crash from time to time, this treatment seems a bit excessive.
The gaffe came in the form of a routine virus update this past Wednesday night. Kaspersky mistakenly identified Explorer as an infected file. For those not familiar with Windows' internals, Explorer serves as the core of the Windows interface, handling the Desktop, Start bar, and file management. Without this core component, Windows becomes inoperable.
Realizing their mistake, the company pulled the flawed definition about two hours later. However, untold numbers of customers were already experiencing the quarantine, and in some cases deletion of explorer.exe. While this isn't the first time a virus company has make a false positive, it is none the less a serious mistake that will certainly mean serious downtime for some organizations. Or at least, the organizations that haven't switched to Linux or Mac by now.
PCLive Security is a full featured security suite for Windows. It helps protect you from viruses, spyware, rootkits, keyloggers, and adware. Oh yeah, and it happens to be free. While there are several other free security applications out there, none come with quite so many features in one package.
PCLive Security includes the ClamAV antivirus engine, a bi-directional firewall, and a pop-up and adware blocker.
There's also a paid version that includes technical support, hard drive maintenance, and file optimization features for $4.95 per month.
PCLive Security runs on Windows 2000/XP/Vista machines. On the downside, the installation process takes forever, and once PCLive Security is up and running it seems to be a bit of a resource hog. Oh yeah, and it will try to uninstall any other anti-virus software on your PC when you run the installer.
Symantec has collected evidence of an attack in progress from a new bot that is exploiting multiple bugs that have been around for a few months. Including a bug in Symantec's very own antivirus scanning engine. There have been seven exploits for seven different vulnerabilities from Spybot.acyr that were found in Microsoft Windows and in Symantec's antivirus application. The vulnerability has been around since May 2006, and customers that have updated their applications since then will remain unaffected. Symantec is monitoring a spike in traffic recently with activity mainly lying in .edu domains. Symantec is asking that all customers update their products to the latest available security updates to prevent against any possible attacks.
Great news, everybody! Windows Vista is so secure it makes antivirus programs obsolete! Er.. well, not exactly. According to BetaNews, Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin told reporters on Wednesday that "[Vista's] new lockdown features are so capable and thorough that he was comfortable with his own seven-year-old son using Vista without antivirus software installed." "My son, seven years old, runs Windows Vista, and, honestly, he doesn't have an antivirus system on his machine," said Allchin. "His machine is locked down with parental controls, he can't download things unless it's to the places that I've said that he could do, and I'm feeling totally confident about that." He did make a concession to hackers, however, saying, "The hackers are getting smarter, there's more at stake, and so there's just no way for us to say that some perfection has been achieved. But I can say, knowing what I know now, I feel very confident." He also said he believes Vista is "the most secure system available."
I don't even know where to start, so I leave it to you, faithful readers, to pick it up in the comments.
Do supermarkets and groceries really have the right to release software titles under their own name? Yes, but will they be trusted solutions? UK based Tesco stores are preparing to launch some applications of their own.
When I came across this news, I was shocked that a supermarket chain was so IT advanced, and immediately thought they had a special group of programmers hiding in their freezers plugging away at code. Don't worry, Tesco isn't developing their own code, they have merely re-branded a suite of six software applications under their own brand. These include a word processor and antivirus. The launch date is later this month, selling for about $37 US (no word on if they will be released for PC or Mac). It should be interesting to see who is going to line up to grab some milk and antivirus solutions.
Former Download Squad co-lead Marc Perton wrote in to tell us about a bit of controversy stirred up by his current employer, Consumer Reports, which recently conducted one of the most comprehensive tests of anti-virus software to date. The controversy is that for the test Consumer Reports hired a firm to create 5,500 new variants of existing viruses to see how antivirus software reacted to new threats. And, not unexpectedly, the antivirus companies threw a fit. Here's what McAfee's Igor Muttik had to say about it: "Creating new viruses for the purpose of testing and education is generally not considered a good idea." Consumer Union's Evan Beckford defended the test, saying, "We need to anticipate how antivirus software will react to future threats. This is the only way we know to do it. We think the benefits far outweigh the risks." SANS Institute's Alan Paller agrees, saying, "extremely valuable because a great weakness of most leading antivirus tools is that they are slow in detecting new viruses," adding that creating viruses in a lab isn't wrong--distributing them is.
Among the antivirus software tested, McAfee's scored in the middle of the pack, which was led by offerings from BitDefender and Zone Laps. McAfee denies that its criticism of Consumer Reports' methods was not motivated by its score. You can read Consumer Reports' report on how the tests were conducted here.
So, what do you think? Is creating thousands of new virus variants playing with fire, and do all of us stand to get burned as a result, or are tests like this essential to staying ahead of new threats before they're created?
Symantec moved quickly to squash a security vulnerability in its AntiVirus Corporate Edition which was disclosed by eEye Digital Security last week, and according to CRN Australia an official fix is now being rolled out in the form of an IPS signature update. An unnamed executive from another security vendor, however, says they are "scratching their heads in disbelief" regarding the choice, because hackers could reverse-engineer the signatures and get "a blueprint of the vulnerability." It seems to me that any fix released could likewise be reverse-engineered, but it may be true that an IPS signature is easier to dissect. Let's just hope all of those Corporate users have their AntiVirus set to keep those signatures up-to-date.
According to eEye Digital Security, the latest version of Symantec AntiVirus contains a security flaw that could be used to take control of the victim's PC "without any user action." eEye spokesperson Mike Puterbaugh describes the hole as "definitely wormable," i.e. malicious software could gain access to a machine, change or delete files at will, and spread itself to other machines. Symantec says they "are evaluating the issue now and, if necessary, will provide a prompt response and solution." Puterbaugh says no proof-of-concept code has been released, but warns that hackers may already know about the flaw.
McAfee Anti-Virus
thinks that Excel is a virus. That and hundred of other files that definitely aren't. SANS is reporting that a virus
definition update released by McAfee on Friday mistakenly identifies many, many important files as infected with the
W95/CTX virus. Among them are executables from Microsoft, Adobe, Macromedia, MySQL, and more (PDF). If you're lucky or clever enough to have McAfee set
to quarantine infected files, they've released instructions on
restoring those files, but if you had it set to delete and don't have a recent backup, you're out of luck.
