Symantec releases Norton 2013 security suites

BetaNews: Symantec has released brand new versions of its Norton security packages for Windows, Norton Anti-Virus 2013, Norton Internet Security 2013 and Norton 360 2013. It’s the first time all three packages have been updated simultaneously, while the branding has also been amended to remove all references to a date, simply naming each Norton Anti-Virus, Norton Internet Security and Norton 360, respectively. ...

September 7, 2012 Â· 3 min Â· 508 words Â· Omid Farhang

VirusTotal online scanner adds behavior analysis

h-Online: The developers of the VirusTotal online virus scanner service are currently testing a new sandbox feature to provide users with more meaningful scan results. In a post on the company’s blog, software architect and developer Emiliano Martinez says that, for this purpose, samples uploaded to the service are executed in a controlled sandbox environment where their actions can be “recorded in order to give the analyst a high level overview of what the sample is doing”. ...

July 25, 2012 Â· 2 min Â· 379 words Â· Omid Farhang

Firefox, Thunderbird, Panda and more updates

Mozilla Firefox: Mozilla has released a new update for Firefox, Mozilla Firefox 14.0.1, This version comes with Google Secure search by default, flat buttons in toolbar and some Performance improvement and security fixes. Read more in Mozilla Blog. Mozilla Thunderbird: Mozilla also updated Thunderbird, Mozilla Thunderbird 14, This version mostly focus on stability, performance and security fixes. I think we cannot expect much more new feature in Thunderbird anymore, Mozilla has announced that they changed the way they develop Thunderbird, Read it yourself in Mozilla Blog. ...

July 17, 2012 Â· 1 min Â· 191 words Â· Omid Farhang

AVAST software blocked its services for embargoed countries

Petr Chocholous in response to Iranian users contacting avast saying they are unable to open website or update their antivirus said: AVAST Software a.s. is currently blocking access to port 80 (that effectively means websites and updates of avast! software) of its servers from following countries: Iran, Sudan, Cuba, Syria, North Korea and Burma/Myanmar. AVAST Software a.s. [and its subsidiaries/sister companies] must not provide any services in these countries because of policies and regulations that are applicable to AVAST Software a.s. ...

May 29, 2012 Â· 1 min Â· 113 words Â· Omid Farhang

Iran makes its own anti-virus software – would you buy it?

SophosLabs: According to reports, Iran has started making its own anti-virus software. It is said that experts from Shiraz Computer Emergency Response Team of APA (Academic Protection and Awareness) of Iran have been working on the project to help better protect the country’s digital defenses. Of course, Iran is no stranger to malware. It found itself thrust into the spotlight in 2010 when the infamous Stuxnet worm was widely reported to have infected industrial plants (including nuclear plants) in the country with the seeming intention to target and sabotage SCADA systems. ...

May 3, 2012 Â· 2 min Â· 344 words Â· Omid Farhang

German government makes recommendations for secure Windows PCs

The H-Online: The German Federal Office of Information Security (BSI (German), BSI English) has compiled security recommendations for Windows PCs that will probably sound familiar to regular readers of The H: Anti-virus software – including free solutions –, backups, security updates, an alternative browser such as Google Chrome and “a healthy level of mistrust” are the main components of its proposal for a secure Windows PC. As the UK lacks a governmental organization that makes such recommendations, as usually such organizations recommend policy for public projects, it is worth seeing what Germany’s BSI suggests. ...

February 6, 2012 Â· 2 min Â· 289 words Â· Omid Farhang

One in four Windows 7 PC run out of date anti-malware

MSDN: One of the things we talk quite a bit about with Windows 8 is making sure Windows is a safe, secure, and reliable computing environment. We have always provided a broad range of solutions for achieving these goals and work closely with a broad range of industry partners. We continue to enhance these capabilities with Windows 8 while making sure you always have choice and control over how to protect and manage your PC. With Windows 8 we are extending the protections provided by Defender to address a broader range of potential threats. Jason Garms, the group program manager of our reliability and security team authored this post that represents work across several teams. –Steven ...

September 16, 2011 Â· 1 min Â· 121 words Â· Omid Farhang

Here's some good news for Mac users! Go Avira!

Avira’s Anti-Virus Technology Used by ZeoBIT in New System Utility – MacKeeper Avira provides anti-malware scanning engine to MacKeeper App Tettnang / Silicon Valley, March 11, 2011 – IT security expert Avira announced today that it licensed its industry-leading antivirus product to Silicon Valley-based ZeoBIT to be used in ZeoBIT’s MacKeeper product. MacKeeper is an all-in-one app that includes 16+ unique features for security, cleaning, data control and optimization for Macintosh computers. ...

March 12, 2011 Â· 3 min Â· 465 words Â· Omid Farhang

Sophos: malware on the Mac is real, here's a free antivirus

Sophos has released a free antivirus product for consumers using Mac OS: Sophos Anti-Virus Home Edition for Mac. Although commercial antivirus products for Macs have been available for some time, Sophos’ offer is one of the very few free ones. The Internet security firm took its existing enterprise antivirus software and slimmed it down to reduce complexity. Interestingly, the company has no plans to release an equivalent free version for Windows. Windows threats are in the millions while the number of strains of Mac malware is in the thousands. ...

November 3, 2010 Â· 2 min Â· 297 words Â· Omid Farhang

Panda: Mac is less secure than Windows, here's an antivirus

Follow up from: Panda security launches Panda Antivirus The number of Mac OS vulnerabilities has quintupled in less than a year. In 2009, 34 vulnerabilities were detected for Mac OS. So far in 2010, this number has risen to 175 vulnerabilities. Furthermore, the platform can also be affected by 170,000 macro viruses for Windows and there are 5,000 classified strains of malware that specifically target Apple systems, according to Panda Security. ...

October 22, 2010 Â· 2 min Â· 307 words Â· Omid Farhang