Buy anti virus software is the mantra of all the computer security companies and now, one of the biggest, GFI Software, has announced that it has joined up with Web of Trust to provide protection for its worldwide user community.

GFI Software develops and markets the VIPRE range of products which, for anyone who wants to buy anti virus software, is often a first port of call.

The Web of Trust, or WOT as its commonly known, is one of the best known community-based safe surfing tools.

And now GFI has offered a free WOT add-on, plus discounts on the VIPRE range of products.

As part of the co-marketing agreement, WOT says it will not only promote, but also recommend the GFI anti virus software to its community of more than 13 million members. In return, GFI will promote Web of Trust to its customers.

The mutual back-scratching means that WOT members get not only discounts, but also access to an extra layer of protection which warns against unsecure websites, and watches out for evolving threats.

CEO at Web of Trust, Vesa Perälä, said about the deal between the two companies:
“There are an ever increasing number of new malware threats and attacks on the Internet, so anytime we can further protect our customers with an additional layer of protection we will do so. GFI provides users superior protection from the latest threats and that is why we are very proud to make VIPRE the Web of Trust’s recommended antivirus solution.”

The add-on which has been developed for WOT by the team at GFI, creates reputation ratings when searching. It works with all the leading search engines and other popular websites. This means that surfers can see, very quickly, which are the best sites to avoid, and equally, which ones can be trusted.

Vice president and general manager of GFI’s Security Business Unit, Alex Eckelberry, said:
“Consumers, just like large enterprises, require a layered approach to Web security. The combination of Web of Trust’s community driven rating system and GFI’s VIPRE anti-malware technology provides customers with a two-tiered approach to security that can help to keep Internet browsing safe.”

So if you’re in the market to buy anti virus software, you should perhaps take a look at the GTI and WOT deal.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

When computer security companies pitch themselves as having the best antivirus software, they confirm their credentials with regular reports on the worst enemies out there.

And to support its claim to provide the best antivirus software, GFI produce a regular report which identifies the worse malware threats for a particular month.

So in the month of August, GFI has identified the most dangerous malware threats, based on information gleaned from their anti-malware solution VIPRE and their antispyware tool, CounterSpy.

And the main conclusion for August is that the same Trojans that have been around for many months now, are still prevalent and attacking people’s computers. GFI note that the top four Trojans that were spotted in July, are the same for August.

The biggest culprit remains Trojan.Win32.Generic!BT which accounted for 25.11% of total detections. Although it accounts for slightly less than in previous months (29.08% in July and 27.16% in June), it remains top of the leader board.

Way behind in second place with 4.23% is Trojan-Spy.Win32.Zbot.gen. This little nasty comes in many versions and its particular skill is stealing passwords.

In third place, accounting for 3.61% of threats, is Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra, whose claim to fame attacking and infecting 32- and 64-bit Windows installations.

Francis Montesion from GFI said:
“Detections of this malicious code indicate that botnet operators continue to try to infect machines and use them in their spamming networks. Our ThreatNet detections for the month also agree with other reports we’ve heard in the last few weeks that have found a high level of traffic in rogue security products. These are often referred to as scareware. We’re seeing a multitude of detections of the downloaders and installers that are associated with the rogues.

“Our research group is analysing new rogues too, but what we’re seeing through ThreatNet indicates that VIPRE is preventing these rogue downloads.”

The complete top ten malware threats for August, according to GFI, is:
1. Trojan.Win32.Generic!BT 25.11%
2. Trojan-Spy.Win32.Zbot.gen 4.23%
3. Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra 3.61%
4. INF.Autorun (v) 3.27%
5. Trojan.Win32.Generic!SB.0 2.01%
6. BehavesLike.Win32.Malware (v) 1.04%
7. Worm.Win32.Downad.Gen (v) 0.96%
8. Trojan.Win32.Malware.a 0.93%
9. Trojan.Win32.Meredrop 0.92%
10. Exploit.PDF-JS.Gen (v) 0.84%

Being able to spot such a list of malware threats is a good indication that the company concerned go some way in offering the best antivirus software.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

All computer security companies are keen to offer the best antivirus products and GFI Software, which makes the VIPRE range of products, has just announced some new accolades.

GFI’s security business has picked up a best antivirus award in the shape of a completed certification from the OESIS OK programme, a programme created by OPSWAT which provides development tools that run and power software application manageability. The purpose of the certification is simple: to offer independent verification that the products given the award are effective, safe, and efficient enough to be of excellent value to the buyer. It is no wonder, then, that GFI VIPRE is proud of its new award.

Like the Oscars, the OESIS OK award has its categories in which products compete for the title: VIPRE were awarded Certification in the Antivirus Category, and a Gold Certification in the Antiphishing Category. This award extends throughout VIPRE’s array of products, from their consumer packages – such as VIPRE Antivirus and VIPRE Antivirus Premium – to their business and enterprise versions, such as VIPRE Enterprise and VIPRE Enterprise Premium.

OESIS OK certification brands VIPRE as having the OESIS Framework incorporated into their features; this means that they are run and detected by the OESIS Framework and ensure seamless connectivity and interoperability.

Jeremy Sheldon, OESIS OK Program Manager at OPSWAT, says: “We are pleased that the VIPRE product line continues to demonstrate its commitment to application manageability by participating in the OESIS OK Program. Certification assures the more than 50 million endpoint users of the OESIS Framework that an application has passed rigorous tests to ensure immediate and ongoing interoperability.”

VIPRE will no doubt be keen to stress the addition of this new certification, which they believe will help to encourage the image that VIRPE is up there with the best antivirus products on the market.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

One of the top computer security software companies has produced its list of top ten malware threats for May.

Florida based Sunbelt Software compiles a monthly top ten malware threats report and the data comes from the company’s VIPRE Antivirus, its anti-malware solution, and CounterSpy, its antispyware application.

And the top ten malware threats for May reflect a growing trend towards behaviour-based detections.

What’s more, the top ten malware threats within May were also amongst the top ten for April, with May’s leading position going to Trojan.Win32.Generic!BT with 27.8% of detections, which was top in April and with more detections, 33.7%.

Coming up on the inside of the list of top ten malware threats for May is INF.Autorun (V) whose detections grew by over half from April to May. The previous period had seen a 40% increase; so the influence of this particular piece of malware is growing considerably and is likely to stay around for some months to come.

Newcomers to the top ten malware threats list for May were FraudTool.Win32.AVSoft (v) which popped in at number eight with 1.3% of detections and Trojan.Win32.Agent at number nine with just over 1.2% of detections. The first one of these little beauties – FraudTool.Win32.AVSoft (v) – installs rogue antivirus software – and the second – Trojan.Win32.Agent – downloads a varying variety of viruses and is a particular insidious Trojan downloader.

Tom Kelchner, Sunbelt Software Research Centre Manager, said about the top ten malware threats:
“The list of ThreatNet top-10 detections in May did not change significantly from the previous month – with a continued high volume of Trojan downloaders. However, the level of generic detections has steadily increased over the past few months, highlighting the importance of behavioural testing via a "sandbox" method to stop malicious applications without individual signature updates. This is a good strategy for stopping zero-day malicious code, or previously unknown malware, which is being generated by the bad guys with more frequency.”

The complete top ten malware threats is as follows:

1. Trojan.Win32.Generic!BT 27.79%
2. INF.Autorun (v) 3.63%
3. Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra 2.14%
4. BehavesLike.Win32.Malware (v) 1.95%
5. Trojan-Spy.Win32.Zbot.gen 1.78%
6. Trojan.Win32.Generic!SB.0 1.35%
7. Exploit.PDF-JS.Gen (v) 1.34%
8. FraudTool.Win32.AVSoft (v) 1.32%
9. Trojan.Win32.Agent 1.28%
10. Trojan.Win32.Malware 1.25%

The majority of the threats contained within the top ten malware threats are delivered via social engineering, or stealth installations.

Guest Article by Neil Camp