BitDefender is 'game' to tackle emerging threats
About BitDefender Antivirus Pro 2011 ($29.95 per year for three PCs) TopTenReviews wrote, "We’ve been impressed with BitDefender Antivirus for years, and they continue to innovate and improve year after year to maintain their status as the best anti-virus software on our list."
According to TopTenReviews, BitDefender is a strong solution because of its ease of use, effectiveness and wide scope of protection. These are characteristics shared by all the best antivirus software suites. What sets BitDefender Antivirus Pro 2011 apart is the features it has at its disposal to face the social-engineering and "poisoned SEO" (search engine optimization) threats that security professionals think will be widespread this year.
BitDefender comes with Search Advisor, a tool that’s built into your Web browser and notifies you of safe search results. Search Advisor mitigates the problems posed by poisoned SEO schemes - in which scammers trick search engines into ranking corrupted pages at the top of the search results - by letting users know whether or not the website they are about to visit is suspected to be harboring malware.
In 2011, gaming devices such as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will be particularly susceptible to attack, according to Kurt Baumgartner, senior malware researcher at Kaspersky Lab.
To fend off this new danger, BitDefender also comes with a feature called Secure Gamer mode, which allows gamers to remain protected while turning off all notifications and interruptions.
Kaspersky keeps its head in the cloud
"By definition, there will always be things which sail right through an installed antivirus program that’s properly updated," George Smith, senior fellow with GlobalSecurity.org, told SecurityNewsDaily.That’s an indisputable fact of the new online reality. But it doesn’t mean that Web surfers can’t feel secure from the multitudes of new phishing e-mails, social engineering scams,Trojans, spyware, worms and other malware.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011, which scored across-the-board high marks in Virus Bulletin’s latest VB100 anti-virus test, "is as all-encompassing as they come," said TopTenReviews, adding that, "Kaspersky is known for their quick response to new viruses, and they’re often among the first to detect new viruses in the wild."
With the burgeoning and dangerous trend of malware spreading through cloud-based file-sharing services, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011 ($59.95 per year for three PCs) earns its stripes as one of the best anti-virus solutions with its System Watcher feature.
It keeps users safe “as you surf the Web, download files, send and receive e-mails, and access files and documents,” explained TopTenReviews.
AVG keeps you safe while you’re being social
Also scoring top marks across the board in the VB100 test is AVG Anti-Virus 2011, which costs $34.99 for a year’s subscription for one PC.Like the others in its esteemed company, AVG is effective and easy to use and install. But it really proves its worth in the realm of social networking, one of the most frequently used vectors through which attackers can quickly spread malicious software.
AVG Anti-Virus 2011 contains a new feature called Social Networking Protection, which keeps users of Facebook and other social-networking services safe by scanning all shared links in real time.
Given the recent proliferation of malware sent via shortened URLs on Facebook and Twitter, AVG could be one of the best anti-virus shields for hundreds of millions of daily social networkers.
Norton spots the fakes
The cybersecurity world has been rocked in recent months by scareware scams – e-mails and pop-up windows that trick users into believing their computers are infected with malware, and then persuading them to purchase phony antivirus software.Symantec’s Norton AntiVirus 2011 ($39.99 per year for three PCs) addresses the issue with Norton Power Eraser, a program which locates and removes fake antivirus programs.
Norton is also in front of the crowd - and ready for the new batch of threats - with Norton Safe Web for Facebook and silent gamer mode.
Sophos reaches out to Macs
In late November, the file-sharing service BitTorrent was found to be harboring malware specifically targeting Mac computers, still a rarity despite Apple’s decade-long gains in market share.In fact, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant with the antivirus firm Sophos, reported that his firm had detected nearly 50,000 pieces of malware between Nov. 2 and Nov. 16, many of which were designed specifically to infect Macs.
Source: Technewsdaily.com
