Antivirus software users are a restless bunch says top security company Avira.

The company, which is based in Germany, says that new research has revealed a number of antivirus software user habits. These include their attitudes and behaviour with regards to their internet security software. The consumer security survey, with 9091 participants, was sent to Avira’s 100 plus million customers across the globe, giving an international outlook to the results.

Some of the trends in the survey, however, have given Avira cause for concern, and suggest a global restlessness when it comes to internet security packages, as well as bad habits that could potentially put users in danger.

For example, 62.84 per cent have tried a number of different security products in the space of 12 months, all on the same computer. Users appear to be willing to try out a variety of internet security packages before settling with their favourite, suggesting a clear knowledge of what they want on their own computers. Sorin Mustaca, a data security advisor at Avira, says: “It’s not surprising that consumers try multiple products each year since everyone is trying to find the right security product which can effectively balance protection and a computer’s resource usage.”

The survey data will give the internet security software companies much to consider. For example, 25.15 per cent of respondents to the survey saying that they turn off the anti-virus software because they thought it was slowing down their computer. This, suggests that internet security software companies need to understand the users’ demand for a piece of software that does not act as a drag on their computer’s resources. They want to keep their computers safe, but do not want to sacrifice their enjoyment and the effectiveness of their computer.

Mustaca at Avira agrees that this survey should tell the sellers of internet security software a thing or two: “It is a clear sign for the vendors that even more care has to be taken in order not to overload the security software with features which may have a great impact on system performance. In the end, when it comes to security, it is better to have minimal protection which goes unnoticed than protection with all whistles and bells which the user deactivates in order to be able to use his computer.”

If software vendors don’t want to lose their customers, this data, plus the 12.01 per cent of the survey who thought about not using their internet at all because of security reasons, should hopefully give them some idea as to what they can do to make their products that much more effective for their global users. Antivirus software needs to suit the demands and needs of users, and that hopefully should stop the restless, dangerous habits that let many cyber-criminals into people’s lives.

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

The 2010 Avira Premium Security Suite has been awarded a best anti virus award from the website Softwareload.de.

The best anti virus award for the Avira Premium Security Suite came in the form of the accolade ‘Software of the Year 2010.’

Awarded by the users of Softwareload.de, some 800,00 people took part in the poll in September and they were asked to nominate their best software of this year within 18 overall categories. In the security category, the Avira Premium Software Suite 2010 came top, beating nine other contenders.

There were ten nominations in each category, picked by an online jury which consisted of a number of IT media and company representatives.

After picking up the best anti virus award, the Chief Sales and Marketing Director, Travis Witteveen, at Avira said:
“More than 100 million private users worldwide have shown their great trust in Avira virus protection. To be voted "Software of the Year 2010" by the Softwareload.de community is very reassuring for us.”

The security suite Avira Premium 2010 offers protection against various threats from the internet, including key loggers and viruses. It comes complete with added features including Avira WebGuard and MailGuard. These act as filters which ensure that viruses are removed from the internet data flow, which means that they never reach a users’ computer. There are also a range of firewall and parental controls, plus a number of back-up functions.

Avira operates on the worldwide stage, providing professional and private antivirus software and IT security solutions to over 100 million clients.

Its products regularly gain the VB100 award and the company is one of the founding members of the Germany IT security association. This goes under the snappy title of IT Security Made In Germany, or ITSMIG for short.

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

For anyone who doesn’t think they should buy antivirus software, IT security company Avira has revealed in a recent survey that one in three people believe that all websites pose a security threat.

Avira, based in Tettnang, Germany, conducted a worldwide survey which came to the conclusion that a third of the people questioned said: “When it comes to security, all websites are equally dangerous, all over the internet.” So if anyone should need convincing that it is a good idea to buy antivirus software, they should read this report.

The survey, which went out to Avira’s customer base of 100 million from which a sample was extracted, went into some detail as to people’s thoughts.

One of the main questions in the survey concerned where people suspected the greatest dangers on the internet lurked. In other words, where did they think the greatest threat of malware infection was situated.

And apart from the belief that all websites are equally dangerous, the biggest response named Warez sites, which are the home of illegal software, as very dangerous sites indeed. Some 26.7 % of respondents thought this to be the case.

The next biggest concern, with some 22% highlighting this area, are pornographic websites which are known throughout the computer software industry as harbouring all sorts of viruses and malware.

Browser game websites, such as those offering bingo and poker games, came next with some 13% of people saying that they shouldn’t be trusted.

The last area of concern, with just over 4% of people sharing their worries, were the big portals (social networking websites for example), which are inherently vulnerable to their global popularity.

Sorin Mustaca, a data security expert at Avira, said:
“On one hand, it’s encouraging to see that over 33 percent of our user base has learned that security threats can come from any website, but it’s also a statement on our society at large when 1 out of every 3 people can’t trust any of the websites they visit. Our survey shows that consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the dangers they can be exposed to while browsing, and we at Avira are very happy to be able to help our users to stay safe while surfing the Internet.”

If there was ever a report which highlighted the need to buy antivirus software, say industry experts, this is it.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Computer security firm Avira has boosted its flagship product with some new innovations.

Avira AntiVir Version 10 now boasts a behaviour-based detection called "ProActiv" which introduces single-click malware removal.

And the new version of Avira AntiVir Version 10, which is used by around 100 million computer users worldwide, also introduces generic system repair for damage that may be caused by new variants of viruses and malware.

Further features include enhanced security (possibly thanks to shared intelligence on emerging viruses from the 100 million-plus strong Avira community); express installation, transparent user interface and slide-up virus information with one-click antivirus removal feature; and, parental control in the Avira AntiVir Suite which gives control over Internet surfing hours.

Travis Witteveen, Head of Sales and Marketing at Avira, said:
“Our antivirus solutions minimize our users’ malware worries and maximize their PC security. It is very important to us that our solutions should be even more user-friendly.

“We are also making online life easier for parents by including Parental Controls the AntiVir Suite that provide more powerful tools to protect their children while surfing the net – for example by allowing them to monitor what there are doing and seeing online, and by defining surfing times and days.”

The new ProActiv technology is integral to the Premium and Professional editions of Avira AntiVir Version 10. In effect, it adds an extra fourth layer of protection by introducing analysis of a programme’s behavioural patterns to help detect malware in addition to heuristic, generic and pattern-based scanning methods. This means that by blocking suspicious programmes, threats can be eliminated immediately.

What’s more, those Avira AntiVir Version 10 users who join the Avira AntiVir ProActiv Community will benefit from increased protection. In practice, this means members can automatically run an advanced check on suspicious files. And those will be sent to Avira’s security experts for analysis, with the results being used to further refine the behaviour-based detection.

And the great thing about it’s genetic repair feature, says Avira, is that it cleans up after undetected viruses. It does this by searching for any residual data and removes this from the hard disk and registry. This helps to remove traces that may otherwise allow a PC to become compromised.

The revised editions of Avira AntiVir Version 10 also come with an enhanced user interface. This not only provides a clearer overview of the available features, but by means of colour-coding, it provides users, at a glance, with a view of their system’s health and well-being. Green means that everything is okay, but red warns if problems.

The interface also includes slide-ups (when a problem is detected); discreet information boxes; malware findings are displayed in reports as appropriate; one mouse-click can get rid of suspicious files; and, the system is also quickly repaired by the application.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

A top computer security firm is saying that one in ten people have already fallen victim to data theft.

IT security expert Avira, one of the world’s leading IT security solution companies for both the professional and personal markets, discovered from their web-based moral issue survey, that internet users seriously underestimate the ability of cyber-criminals to access their data.

Over 5,000 people were questioned online and whilst most said they were aware of the security problems posed in today’s high-tech world, they did admit that they weren’t completely prepared for the ingenuity of the modern day cyber criminal.

Avira is a German based company which operates in a number of countries. It is perhaps best known for its virus protection programme called Avira AntiVir Personal, although it also helps protect companies, educational organisations and government authorities from cyber crimes.

And although half of those taking part in the survey said they had not noticed any attack on their data, Avira confirmed its likely only those that use extensive security protection would in fact realise their integrity has been comprised.

Avira pointed out that such is the sophistication of the modern virus programmes, that their detection is increasingly difficult and near-impossible without antivirus pc software.

Perhaps very worryingly, nearly a quarter of the survey participants said they wouldn’t be that concerned if they were attacked, as they doubted if they had anything of interest for the hackers! But Avira were keen to point out this is a dangerous stance and delusionary, mainly because an individual computer can be taken over and used as a bot, part of a bot net which can be used to distribute illegal spam. So a user, unknowing his own computer is part of a bot-net, might find themselves at the wrong end of a visit from the authorities in some cases.

Of those that have already fallen prey to some form of data theft, many had discovered that their Facebook and EBay accounts had been hacked, plus their email accounts. Having your personal accounts hacked in this way can get you into trouble so it important security pc software is used.

Avira’s products also include Avira AntiVir Premium which is also useful for filtering-out phishing sites and Avira Premium Security Suite which offers comprehensive protection.

Guest Article by Neil Camp