IT giant IBM has been selected to provide internet security software plus other threat solutions for Rive Gauche, a Russian chain of perfume and cosmetic stores.

The IBM package, which includes internet security software, is called Security Solutions by US based IBM. Rive Gauche has decided to overhaul its IT system to try to stay ahead of the internet threats that are looking to become more and more dangerous to businesses in the future. At their headquarters and branches in St Petersburg, Rive Gauche will be introducing the IBM Security Solutions software to help with keeping their business safe.

Alexey Smolin, head of Information Security Department at Rive Gauche, said: “As we’ve expanded our network of retail stores, a key concern for Rive Gauche has been to safeguard our customers’ personal identifiable information data and protect the IT systems in our headquarters, local offices, stores and warehouses from all manner of threats. With IBM, we found a proactive approach that helps us not only remediate based on specific attacks, but gives us a clear view into suspicious activity well before it becomes a problem.”

With the IBM software, Rive Gauche can block and detect any illegal and dangerous threats made towards the company, either through its servers, desktops or gateways, and allow them to see all that is happening in a single control network.

IBM also has the capabilities to make vitally important emails be delivered with urgency if there is a serious problem, or to make other, less dangerous events, de-emphasised. Rive Gauche has reported an improvement in the detection and management of security issues that have come their way.

The general manager of IBM Security Solutions agrees that this internet security software will be more than just for simple viruses and malware: “Rive Gauche is tapping IBM Security Solutions for more than just viruses and attacks- it’s building a system that is secure by design. At its core, Rive Gauche is setting a proactive security policy with IBM solutions to better safeguard its clients and corporate information.”

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

News agency Reuters is reporting that the FBI has started an investigation into the recent security breach of the iPad which resulted in the leak of personal information about AT&T customers.

And the names leaked included a number of senior US Government officials, celebrities and businessman.

The attack on the iPad was first announced by the website Gawker. It reported that a group going by the name of Goatse Security had succeeded into hacking into AT&T’s subscriber data, obtaining the sensitive details from about 100,000 email addresses.

AT&T admitted the attack and said that the flaw had been corrected and what’s more, that only those email addresses which had a security weakness had been exposed by the hackers. AT&T didn’t comment on the role of the FBI.

A less shy FBI spokesman said: "The FBI is aware of these possible computer intrusions and has opened an investigation to address the potential cyber threat.”

Observers see this as a passing embarrassment for AT&T and by no means a crippling blow. The general feeling was amongst security professionals that the breach was not catastrophic and that it had little to do with the iPad’s basic set-up. Furthermore, others pointed out that whenever Government and VIP addresses get hacked, the Feds usually get a call and have to be seen to be pro-active.

AT&T has the exclusive US rights to carry the iPad and the iPhone. This exclusivity hasn’t won it many friends in certain quarters of a jealous industry. There are also subscribers who complain about the quality of the AT&T network.

This won’t dent the incredible success already experienced by the iPad, already selling over two million units worldwide since its launch in April. And the iPad is being seen as Apple’s major battering ram to enforce its international growth strategy. Last month Apple over took its rival Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable technology stock.

Rival models to the iPad are expected soon from Dell and Hewlett Packard, although experts see them playing a game of catch-up.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Internet protection for kids is a vital part of being a modern day parent. Keeping your children safe on the internet can be hard work and constant monitoring of what your child is doing is not always possible. So what do you do if your child is obsessed with the internet but you don’t have enough time to watch what they are doing all of the time? The answer is simple; let someone else lookout for the safety of your child for you with internet security.

What is OnlineFamily.Norton?

Being supportive of your child’s online activities is important but there is a way of allowing them more freedom without putting them at risk with enhanced internet security. The OnlineFamily.Norton program is designed to help parents to ensure their children come to no harm online while at the same time allowing them a certain level of freedom.The OnlineFamily.Norton service is free allowing yout to protect your kids online at no cost.

OnlineFamily.Norton can be set up very easily. You register, then add each of your children to the service. None of their personal information is provided you only need to enter their age and gender. The internet protection rules are automatically set up based on the year your child was born. You can further customise security rules for each child on their profile page. The OnlineFamily.Norton website makes the set up of the service very simple with easy to follow instructions.

Here are some of the most important features provided by the OnlineFamily.Norton service that provides great internet protection for kids:

• Personal Profiles – Every child is different and you have the ability to manage your child’s profile information based around their individual interests, age and tastes
• Web Monitoring – This service allows you to see exactly which web pages your child has visited to enable you to check if they have been exposed to any harmful material or inappropriate content
• Block websites – Being able to block certain websites is vital if your child enjoys surfing online
• Chat Monitoring – The option to monitor who your child is friends with online is important as this allows you to see who is talking to your child
• Time Settings – You can use the OnlineFamily.Norton service to set times your children can be online. This is great if your children have a computer in their bedroom.

Other vital offerings from the internet security service include social network monitoring and a time limit for how long your child is allowed to spend online per day. Ensure your child is safe with the OnlineFamily.Norton service it offers internet protection for kids. For more information please visit www.onlinefamilyinfo.norton.com.

You can find furhter information on how to protect your kids online from these articles. Keep Kids Safe Online

Guest Article by Louise Goldstein

If you are not convinced you need antivirus pc software then the creation of yet another virus may change your mind. The new virus is called W32/Wecrol.a. This new virus is classed as a worm.

What is a worm?

A worm is a computer virus that can spread from computer to computer without any human action. The worm uses file and information transport features to travel by itself. Worms can cause a lot of damage to computers as they can copy themselves on your system and send out thousands of copies. Worms often use your email address book to send the virus to everyone you know and this can multiply pretty quickly if the worm continues to do this on several computers.  

If a worm gets onto your computer or your server it can cause them to stop responding as the worm begins to take up too much system memory. Some worms burrow into your system and allow others to control your computer remotely for malicious intent.

The best antivirus software will prevent worms from getting onto your system and even protect from the latest worm Wecrol. The Wecrol worm copies itself to a temp directory, among other things it creates two registry files called Google and License. The ultimate goal of this worm is to connect with multiple domains so malware will begin downloading onto your system.

How can I avoid the Wecrol Worm?

As well as using good antivirus software you can avoid this virus by not executing any suspicious files ending in exe. If you already have the Wecrol Worm on your system you will get an error message which reads “Dcom Server Process Launcher Terminated Unexpectedly”.

How do I get rid of the Wecrol Worm?

If you have seen the above message the worm has already done permanent damage. You need to install and run the latest antivirus software. An antivirus tool will kill the worm but it won’t repair the damage done to some of your files for this you will have to reinstall your operating system.

Guest Article by Louise Goldstein

Many of us know the importance of protecting our home PCs and laptops with antivirus software to stop criminal elements from hacking personal information but what about mobile phone antivirus?

The emergence in the past few years of smart mobile phones has lead us to a place where we can do just about anything on them. Checking emails, updating social networking sites, making bookings for hotels or hire cars can all be done with mobile phones and you can also order products from retailers using your credit or debit card information. 

With this in mind we should already protect our mobile phones with something similar to computer protection software. GetSafeOnline.org is a new government website designed to highlight to smartphone users about the possibility of criminals using data retrieved from mobile phones. In a survey they found more than 67% of users accessing the Internet via their mobile had no kind of mobile phone antivirus. 

Phones are traded in everyday and fraudsters can access former shopping accounts with ease should they fall into their hands. Because at the time it’s your own phone; passwords are often saved which means anyone can then shop with your money online. 

You can find a host of antivirus reviews online to help advise you on the best software for protection from fraudsters. By searching online you can find genuine remarks about the software from customers who have already used the products.  

A simple way to start protecting you mobile is to use the PIN function so only you can access the Internet from your phone. This along with being more careful about storing passwords will help prevent you becoming a victim of fraud.

Guest Article by Louise Goldstein

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

Computer protection is now at the forefront of computer-users minds as the threat of viruses continues to get stronger. Long gone are the days of teenagers hacking into your email just for the fun of it, today’s hackers are vehemently linked to financial gain; making this a common and deadly threat.              

So what makes someone spread a computer virus and what would they have to gain from it? The kind of personality that creates computer viruses varies with everyone from young to old. There is little pattern to show that social standing, education standards or country of origin makes much of a difference because the major reasoning behind spreading a virus is to make money.  

The greed for money is universal and dishonest computer virus creators are no more than a common criminal except they are somewhat more dangerous as they have the knowledge and power to steal your identity and your money. Virus spreaders have a lot to gain but of course, all at someone else’s expense.  

The psyche of someone who spreads computer viruses is that of a thief. But because they never come face to face with their victims they feel as though they are doing little wrong and are often unaware of the damage they cause.

How to stop computer viruses? 

Antivirus PC software is one of the simple but effective ways you can combat the threat of computer viruses. It acts as a firewall to stop these financially motivated individuals or groups from accessing your computer. It also offers computer protection by warning you if it thinks you are about to download a possible virus from a website. 

Using antivirus PC software is fine for your computer but what about the mobile Internet? You should also use some sort of antivirus protection for your phone, PDA, and whatever other wireless devices you may be using to surf the web. Take a look at our antivirus comparison table to see the avaibable antivirus software that will protect your computer.

From computers and laptops to a notebook or an iPhone; all of these and many more gadgets are around today to help us to access the internet wherever we may be. Antivirus protection is becoming a necessity.

We can be sitting at home, on the train to work or out on a Saturday night, but with the latest gizmos we can always access the net but this begs the important question: do you have the best antivirus to stop you from being phished?  

Antivirus PC software sometimes come installed on new computers and internet related equipment purchased but the phishers are changing their style everyday so you have to as well.

Phishing is the latest word for a type of computer hack where the hacker attempts to gain sensitive information like log-in details and passwords. It is totally illegal but finding the guys, girls or groups that carry out these types of scams is tricky so you need to make sure you are fully secure with up-to-date antivirus PC software.

How do I protect myself online?

If you are looking online for some of the top security PC software you will come across many companies that offer various protection packages.  

As well as using security PC software you may want to level some commonsense that will be invaluable when surfing the net. Many of us use social networking sites and phishers have been targeting the likes of Facebook and Twitter as a new way of gaining information.  

You can do a lot to protect yourself online and here a few ideas: 

• Limit your personal information you post on social networking sites.
• Do not accept friend requests from people you do not know.
• Never give personal information via these types of sites, even to friends.

 If you are concerned about internet security and are looking for antivirus PC software check out these special offers on antivirus software

Guest Article by Louise Goldstein

Antivirus PC software

Attracting bugs, viruses, hackers and spam is all part and parcel of using a PC on the internet but there are a few things you can do to stave off all of these unwanted pests. Using the best antivirus systems is the only way to ensure you don’t suffer from any time consuming and expensive problems and you can purchase such brilliance online.

It is nearly impossible to use the internet and not fall foul of some sort of problem whether it be a spyware system that tracks which websites you visit or a phishing scam that takes all of your personal information. With PC protection software the risks of viruses and infections that live solely to obliterate your hard drive will be eliminated and purchasing such software is not tricky.

Everyone can and everyone should! From businesses through to personal users who only use their PC for a few hours every week. The more regularly you use a computer the more likely you will pick up a problem. Don’t make the often expensive mistake of thinking you don’t need antivirus software because you rarely surf the internet, because you do! Viruses by nature worm their way into places where they are not welcome and computer bugs are no different. 

If you, like so many of us, use a PC on the internet but you avoid anything that sounds too technical then don’t panic as protecting your PC from viruses is about as simple as it gets. Complete an online search for a company that offers the best antivirus systems. If you are unsure about what you need then use our antivirus comparison table.

Guest Article by Louise Goldstein