Following on from the massive Intel and McAfee deal, another deal involving a software antivirus company has been announced, albeit on a far smaller scale.

Czech software antivirus company Avast has been given a $100 million shot-in-the-arm following the purchase of a minority stake by equity investor Summit Partners. After being formed in 1991, the security company was once Alvil Software, but is now more memorably known as Avast, sharing its name with the security products it produces.

Unlike many other security software companies, Avast’s focus is on providing a quality free-of-charge security product for the everyday home user, as well as premium products that can be purchased alongside. Avast has always believed that it’s company will do its marketing for them; satisfied customers of the free product will recommend the premium safety product to their friends, family and colleagues. This ‘freemium’ strategy does appear to have worked, at least for Avast, with their product installed on one in five machines globally.

“For 26 years, Summit Partners has been investing in profitable, innovative leaders in the security software industry, and it is rare to find a company such as Avast that redefines how an industry does business. We are very excited about the growth prospects of this exceptional company,” says Han Sikkens, a Principal in Summit Partners’ London office.

Summit’s new investment in the Avast company will be hoped to improve growth and development at Avast, a company that have already proved to be good at thinking outside the box in providing their customers with a unique and safe computer experience through their products. Although not quite as lucrative as the recent deal with Intel and McAfee, this deal between Avast and Summit Partners demonstrates the room for growth that lies within the software antivirus market.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

The security antivirus sector has undergone a major shake-up with the news that Intel, the world’s largest computer chip manufacturer, has bought McAfee for $7.68 billion (£5 billion).

The logic behind the deal, which has come as a surprise to most investment analysts and also to many within the security antivirus sector, is to take a new approach to fighting cybercrime. Intel plans to build security features within the microprocessors that are used to power computers and smaller devices such as mobile phones.

Intel have deep pockets and have offered $48 cash per share for McAfee stock which represents a 60% premium on the McAfee pre-deal share price. Not surprisingly McAfee shares jumped 58% on the news of the bid and the price being offered.

And even though the two companies had been working together for over a year, the deal still caught many unawares. Although both company Boards approved the deal, the takeover will have to be passed by shareholders of both companies and the US regulatory authorities.

Should the deal go ahead – and few see any major problems – the first few products of the amalgamation will be introduced early in 2011.

As the bidder and the ones coughing up the cash, Intel’s shares off 4% to 18.84 US cents.

The BBC was one of many media organisations to run the story and the editor of PC Pro Magazine was one of many who were surprised at the news:

“Intel does buy a lot of companies and it does have a lot of more cash than anyone else out there. So it making a big acquisition isn’t a surprise, but you may have thought it more likely to buy another hardware firm. No doubt Intel is looking ahead and seeing that the laptop and desktop market are probably past their heyday and the big growth area is mobile.

“For a company like Intel, it’s nowhere near as strong in the mobile area as it is in the laptop and desktop areas, so it’s probably looking for new ways to get streams and revenues in the future. Perhaps that is Intel’s point of view but not everybody else’s. The reaction from investors has been quite negative.”

Experts now say that the deal will be a major re-arrangement of the computer antivirus sector, with some firms now feeling on the back foot as McAfee gets access to the sharp end of the industry.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Security software reviews are coming fast and furious at the moment, but McAfee has gone one step further by effectively issuing what it calls a “call to arms” for the computer security industry.

The media might focus on security software reviews, but the likes of McAfee wants to give the cybercriminals a kick where it hurts.

And this new report focuses on the need for the computer security industry to take a far more proactive approach when it comes tackling the threats posed by cybercriminals.

McAfee points to an increasingly cybercriminal dominated environment with incidents of cyber-espionage, the workings of major cybercrime syndicates, rings and gangs, and, the launch of sophisticated malware devices such as Stuxnet which targets key infrastructure systems. Given all the threats and the almost ‘professional’ approach adopted by many modern-day cybercriminals, McAfee is of the view that it’s about time the security industry stepped up to the plate.

Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee Labs, said:
“Cybercriminals prosper because they have very little reason to fear the consequences. As security experts, it’s time to take a hard look at what we do, how we do it, and what our ultimate goals are. The tools and techniques of cybercrime continue to grow in number and sophistication at alarming rates. Every time we release a new statistic about the rise in malware it points to our failure as an industry.”

The report is entitled “Security Takes the Offensive” and has been partly authored by international experts who have compiled strategies which are hopefully clarion calls, says McAfee, for the computer security industry. What upsets these experts is that both security companies and computer users themselves, have always played a defensive game and, figuratively speaking, is like putting armour on computers and networks. The report says that it’s about time that everyone took a more aggressive and proactive stance, bringing to bear all the forces of law and order to beat the cyber-criminals.

David Marcus, director of security research and communications for McAfee Labs, said:
“As we look at the evolution of risky domains and websites over multiple years, we can’t avoid the conclusion that the risk keeps increasing in both volume and sophistication. If we want to stop being victims, then the good guys need to advance security efforts as threats evolve.”

Guest Article by Neil Camp

McAfee, like all computer security companies, see spam as one of the main enemies in the computer age.

Spam is a waste of everyone’s time, clogs up the ether with its pointlessness and is it a major carrier of computer viruses. It serves no purpose whatsoever and if the world were rid of it, then 80% of the email traffic would drop overnight.

So what can you do to avoid spam? Here’s some top tips.

Top tip is do not spread your email around. Never post your e-mail address in an unobfuscated form on the Internet. But if you have to post your internet address, make sure you obfuscate it in such a way that it cannot be harvested. Better still, create a small graphic image that contains your email address, as the harvesters cannot read this. Bear in mind that spammers play the numbers game. They trawl for millions of addresses out there and guess others with specially created computer programmes. Don’t make their life easy.

Another top tip is checking to see how visible your email address is. Type it into a search engine and see if it has been posted into in any newsgroups, or discussions forum, and see if you can remove it, as this might be a good way to cut spam down.

Also consider using a number of email addresses, say one for friends and family, and one for business. This way you can greatly reduce your chances of spam. You could easily create an address that you only use for newsgroups and such places, and then, if it become burdened with spam, drop it altogether. Don’t be afraid of changing your email address as a way of avoiding spam.

Another good way of foxing the spammers is having a complicated email address made up of numbers, as well as letters, and a part of it made up of random sequences. This works against dictionary attackers.

When it come to completing web forms, always have a look at the website’s privacy policy, as avoid giving your email address, or indeed, any other personal details, to a site which admits that they sell them on to third parties. If you can, check the box which opts you out of third party mailings.

A very important rule this – never respond to spam, ever. Because a spammer lives for a reply and even if you innocently send a request saying you’d like to be removed from the list, this confirms to them that the address is valid, you have seen the email and indeed, you have replied. This means that your email address is basically in-play. Your name could then be added to a list of working email addresses which could be very valuable to the spammer and sold between them.

Along the same lines as the last point, never, ever buy anything from a spammer, or goods which have been brought to your attention via spams. Once sending spam become unprofitable, then it will die.

Get into the habit of as soon as you see the spam message, delete it. Do not open it. By using graphics within the spam email, spammers are able to track who received it and who opened. This is why many email providers give you the option of opening the graphic image within the email – resist that temptation. Simply bin it.

Do not use links within emails (always go to a site via your web browser, or your own bookmarks), and never reply to emails, purporting to be from a site you know, asking for financial information, or personal details. Guard such data vigorously.

Above all else, ensure that your anti-virus software is up to date and that your firewall (designed to stop people not only breaking in, but taking goods out), is also doing its job.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

McAfee maintain a list of the current top tracked viruses and their characteristics.

The current list of prime suspects is most illuminating. Most are trojans, but two are worms:

• Exploit-ObscuredHtml
• Exploit-MS06-006
• Generic!atr
• HTML/FakeAV
• Exploit-PDF.b.gen
• Generic PWS.ak
• W32/Conficker.worm!inf
• W32/Rimecud
• Generic FakeAlert!cr
• Bredolab.gen.d.

As to which are trojans and which are viruses, the clue is in the title of one, but it’s not so easy in the other. The infamous W32/Conficker.worm!inf is one and the other is W32/Rimecud.

But lets have a look at one of the trojans first. Exploit-ObscuredHtml. To remind ourselves, this is a trojan and it’s so-called because its takes it lesson from ancient Greece mythology. They are spread inadvertently by people who think that they are downloading, or swapping to someone else, a file which is of some use. In reality, it’s an illegal gateway to someone’s computer. And because unlike viruses they don’t replicate, they rely on manual distribution methods such as email, malicious, or hacked web pages, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), or peer-to-peer networks.

Now Exploit-ObscuredHtml is an exploit by sub-type and it exists as code in an email message, web page, or HTML document.

Interestingly, certain non-ascii characters are ignored by Microsoft Internet Explorer, allowing an attacker to obfuscate malicious code. And still have it rendered by Internet Explorer. But the detection of this particular trojan covers HTML documents that have been crafted with the intention of evading antivirus detection. And there are other documents that mix HTML with non-ascii characters which could also trigger this detection.

Now lets take a brief look at the W32/Conficker.worm!inf. The Conficker caused virtual panic in the media earlier in 2009 and its was dubbed the mother of all viruses. Actually it has been around for some years, although this version was particular virulent.
The sub-type is a worm and it is a file which is usually dropped onto the root of all removable drivers and mapped drives in an attempt to autorun an executable when the drive is accessed.

IT people can spot infection when they see the prescence of autorun.inf files on the root of all removable drives or mapped network drives containing specific information.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

When it comes to finding out about the top malware and spam trends, then the latest report from computer security giants McAfee, covering the first quarter of 2010, is a great place to start.

It discovered that top of the list for top malware and spam trends is a USB worm that has grabbed number one position for top malware worldwide. Furthermore, it concluded that spam trends differ considerably from country to country. What’s more, spam originating out of China and other Asian countries is on the increase. And, early 2010 has been marked by major events, such as earthquake news, which has led to many web searches being poisoned.

The top malware and spam trends report also concluded that most malicious URLs are hosted by US based servers.

High up in the top malware and spam trends report is the fact that the increasing use of removable devices, the majority being USB drives, is acting as a beacon for the most popular malware. Infections that are related to AutoRun held the top and third places. In fifth place are password stealing Trojans which include generic downloaders, gaming software and unwanted programmes, all designed to collect statistics anonymously.

Looking at spam, the report concluded that whilst rates are steady, the subjects differ from country to country. The report shows that the most significant amounts of diploma spam come out of China, South Korea and Vietnam. Diploma spam is all about buying bogus job qualifications in order to get jobs.

Whereas countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan – says the report – are known for high rates of Delivery Status Notification spam.

Mike Gallagher, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Global Threat Intelligence for McAfee, said:
“Our latest threat report verifies that trends in malware and spam continue to grow at our predicted rates. Previously emerging trends, such as AutoRun malware, are now at the forefront. We were also surprised to find some of geographic difference in spam related topics, such as the volume of diploma spam coming out of China.”

The top malware and spam trends report also discovered that Brazil, China, Chile, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Romania and Thailand, do have a higher proportion of malware infections and spam. McAfee says this may be down to the rapid increase in computer and internet use that these countries have experienced in the last few years, and that as a result, they lack a proper appreciation of security awareness.

The top malware and spam trends report that hackers continue to make use of bad news events, such as the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, in order to bump their malicious sites up the site engine rankings.

As to where most of the new malicious URLs are hosted, the top malware and spam trends report concludes that 98% are hosted in the US, mainly because this is where most of the Web 2.0 services are provided.

So, when it comes to the top malware and spam trends report, use it to help keep yourself from the hackers out there.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Rumours circulating the industry are claiming that a recent McAfee update for Windows XP has caused thousands of corporate computers to shut down.

The rumours started to appear on Twitter and there have also been claims that McAfee’s own support site has been down.

The number of computers affected could run into the millions on a worldwide scale.

It would appear that DAT update 5989 deletes what’s known as the svchost.exe file which in turn then triggers a false-positive in McAfee. This then causes not only a chain of uncontrolled restarts, but a loss of networking functionality.

McAfee has apparently issued some fixes, although experts claim this is a classic case of bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted. It’s believed that McAfee has pulled the update from its corporate download servers and therefore will not affect consumers’ computers.

McAfee told the US website ‘engadet’:

“McAfee is aware that a number of customers have incurred a false positive error due to incorrect malware alerts on Wednesday, April 21. The problem occurs with the 5958 virus definition file (DAT) that was released on April 21 at 2.00 PM GMT+1 (6am Pacific Time).

“Our initial investigation indicates that the error can result in moderate to significant performance issues on systems running Windows XP Service Pack 3."

“The faulty update has been removed from McAfee download servers for corporate users, preventing any further impact on those customers. We are not aware of significant impact on consumer customers and believe we have effectively limited such occurrence."

“McAfee teams are working with the highest priority to support impacted customers and plan to provide an update virus definition file shortly. McAfee apologizes for any inconvenience to our customers.”

Figures from the industry say that thousands of computers have already been knocked out by this ‘bad’ update. What’s more, it has been suggested that the fixes on offer require technician time in order for them to be effective, so McAfee can expect some serious grumbling from its corporate customer base.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

McAfee Antivirus is one of the most well known brand names in the antivirus software market. The company was founded back in 1989 as McAfee Associates and is the world’s largest dedicated security company. McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2010 is their most recent antivirus software release and it offers full PC security to protect you while you browse the web giving you the confidence to download files as you please. 

With McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2010 you are always up to date as the software continuously updates with the latest virus definitions all without interrupting your computer use. McAfee provides the fastest protection against malicious threats. New and emerging threats are analysed and blocked in milliseconds.

McAfee AntiVirus Plus offers total pc protection to block as well as remove spyware, adware, malware and rootkits (dangerous programs designed to alter your PC). You are protected while you surf online as McAfee AntiVirus Plus warns you of suspicious websites before you even click.

McAfee AntiVirus Plus added features

With McAfee AntiVirus Plus you are not only getting an antivirus software which protects you against Trojans, spyware and all sort of threats but you get a range of added features including a firewall, disk cleaner, disk defragmenter and a network security manager.

The McAfee firewall is a neat added feature as it protects your computer from hackers whilst you are online. It does this by monitoring your activity and can protect you from identity thieves and malware that hijacks your system with the ultimate goal of stealing important personal information.

McAfee AntiVirus Plus can be purchased to cover multiple computers there are licences which cover 1, 2 or 3 PCs.

Has our McAfee Antivirus Review whetted your apetite? Get 50% of McAfee AntiVirus Plus click here to go to the latest offers on antivirus software.

Guest Article by Louise Goldstein

McAfee has just announced its latest Email and Web security Appliance, version 5.5, which is designed to protect small and midsized businesses against the latest email and web-borne threats, manage Web and email traffic and usage, and reduce system administration requirements. And all this in a single, integrated appliance.

The McAfee Email and Web security Appliance 5.5 has a number of new features and functionality.

First and foremost is Artemis and TrustedSource™ Technology Integration. This is the first time that this application will utilise links to global threat intelligence from its Artemis and TrustedSource technologies. This believes McAfee is the most precise and comprehensive threat intelligence system in the world.

Second up is Appliance Clustering with Load Balancing. This means that multiple appliances can be clustered to share scanning responsibilities for improved resiliency, scalability, and consolidated management and reporting.

Third on the list is Simplified Installation. Very important in reducing installation time and for improving overall user experience, auto-detect network settings provides an easy to use configuration wizard.

Fourth are new Content Policy Wizards. This facility simplifies the creation and set up of content policies through the new configuration wizards and advanced dictionaries simplify policy creation, which enables greater enforcement flexibility and reduces false positives and configuration errors.

Fifth is Integrated URL Filtering. The 5.5 release is available at no extra cost and includes more than 90 Web site categories providing granular web usage monitoring and policy enforcement. It also includes the McAfee Web Reporter package which allows simplified viewing of web utilization and trends.

Dave Macey, general manager of the Network Security business unit at McAfee said:
“In addition to their market leading security effectiveness, these appliances also provide customers with email and Web usage policy enforcement capabilities, compliance tools, informative dashboards and comprehensive reporting. McAfee’s combined intelligence capabilities add an essential layer of protection to guard against today’s most advanced threats and work by accumulating data from millions of sensors, creating a real-time profile of all suspicious activity and content, and then watching for deviations based upon expected behavior.”

Furthermore, the McAfee Email and Web security Appliance 5.5 provides, says McAfee, the highest level of protection with better than 99% spam detection accuracy.

It will be available globally late in 2009.

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

It may still seem to be the plot from a major blockbuster, but the threat of cyber warfare is now reality warns McAfee in its fifth annual Virtual Criminology Report.

The report has revealed that five countries – the United States, Russia, France, Israel and China – are now armed with cyber weapons. The report also highlights the fact that politically motivated cyber attacks have increased.

Dave DeWalt, McAfee president and CEO, said:
“McAfee began to warn of the global cyber arms race more than two years ago, but now we’re seeing increasing evidence that it’s become real. Now several nations around the world are actively engaged in cyber war-like preparations and attacks. Today, the weapons are not nuclear, but virtual, and everyone must adapt to these threats.”

The McAfee Criminology Report includes insights from over 24 of the world’s leading experts in international relations. This includes Dr Jamie Saunders, counsellor at the British Embassy in Washington D.C. and security experts with experience at the U.S. National Security Agency and the Australian Attorney-General’s Department. Paul Kurtz, former White House advisor, wrote the report on McAfee’s behalf.

For the first time, the McAfee report provides a model to define cyber war. Furthermore, it identifies the countries involved in developing cyber offenses and cyber defences and dissects examples of politically-motivated cyber attacks.

The McAfee report also reveals how the private sector will get caught in the crossfire and worries that due to strict Government disclosure rules,
cyber initiatives and information are often classified, hindering cybercrime defence in the public and private sector.

In a nutshell, the McAfee report identifies a number of key issues and challenges.

William Crowell, a former Deputy Director of the U.S. National Security Agency, says in the Virtual Criminology Report.
“Over the next 20 to 30 years, cyber attacks will increasingly become a component of war. What I can’t foresee is whether networks will be so pervasive and unprotected that cyber war operations will stand alone.”

This year’s report identifies the following issues and challenges.

First and foremost is the fact that cyber warfare is now a reality. McAfee reckons that over the last 12 months, the increase in politically motivated cyber attacks has raised alarm. Targets have included the White House, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service and Department of Defence in the U.S. What’s more, a number of countries are actively developing cyber warfare capabilities and are actively involved in the cyber arms race, targeting government networks and critical infrastructures.

Perhaps most worrying, is that cyber weapons are targeting critical infrastructure. In other words, attackers are not only building their cyber defences, but cyber offenses, which means targeting infrastructure such as power grids, transportation, telecommunication, finance and water supplies. The attraction here is that damage can be caused quickly and with little effort.

McAfee makes the point that cyber warfare is undefined. It entangles so many different actors in so many different ways, that the rules of engagement are not clearly defined. Furthermore, there is much debate on how much responsibility should be placed on organizations to protect and educate the public on preventing cyber attacks. It comes down to the fact that without a proper definition in place, it is nearly impossible to determine when a political response, or threat of military action, is warranted.

And the private sector is the most vulnerable sector. McAfee points out that in many developed countries, critical infrastructure is privately owned, making it a huge target for cyber warfare. The argument is that the private sector relies heavily on the government for protection. Should a cyber war start, governments, corporations and private citizens may get caught in the crossfire. And without insight into a government’s cyber defence strategy, the private sector is not able to be proactive and take the proper precautions.

In all, being targeted by a determined cyber attack on a large scale can reek huge damage.

Guest Article by Neil Camp