Major upgrade prevents identity theft, plus blocks new and unknown threats. 

Melbourne, 3 March 2009 – AVG (AU/NZ) Pty Ltd, the Australian, New Zealand and South Pacific distributor of the AVG range of Anti-Virus and Internet Security software, today announced the availability of AVG Internet Security 8.5 with Identity Protection (IDP). This is the latest version of the flagship Internet Security suite from AVG Technologies for home consumers, plus small businesses.
 

AVG Internet Security 8.5 with IDP delivers a significant number of new benefits to users including enhanced protection against identity theft plus real-time protection against the tens of thousands of new and threats that emerge every day.

The inclusion of AVG Identity Protection in the full suite AVG Internet Security 8.5 product is specifically focused on helping to prevent thieves from using carefully-targeted attacks to steal passwords, bank account details, credit card numbers, and other digital valuables. It uses a technology called behavioural analysis to make sure all the programs running on a user’s computer are operating the way they should. If it spots something suspicious that could indicate an attempted ID theft attack, it shuts that activity down, preventing any possible theft from happening.

AVG Internet Security 8.5 with IDP now provides total protection for all aspects of users’ online lives, defending home users against viruses, spyware, worms, hackers, botnets, poisoned web pages, trojan horses, spam, identity theft and other cyber threats with a full arsenal of digital weaponry. Whether users are surfing, e-mailing or downloading files, AVG Internet Security 8.5 stops threats from becoming problems.
 

“We know the security challenges users face in their daily lives,” says J.R. Smith, CEO of AVG Technologies. “Our products are designed to prevent those challenges from becoming problems, leaving users free to get on with their digital lives. They’re easy to set up, easy to use, easy to find – and some of them are even free, forever.”

AVG Identity Protection is based around the technology AVG Technologies acquired when it bought the Sana Security company earlier this year. This technology helps to prevent identity-related attacks by analysing the behaviour and characteristics of malicious programs and using the knowledge gained to create protection that doesn’t require “signature updates” to stay current. The software is continuously learning and improving its protection, based on information drawn from real threats encountered by real users, ensuring that users are always protected against new and unknown threats.
 

“Tens of thousands of new virus samples arrive in security companies’ labs every day,” says AVG Technologies CTO Karel Obluk. “It is simply not feasible for traditional signature-based anti-virus to keep up with this level of activity from the bad guys. So while it’s important to continue to use anti-virus to protect against the known viruses that are out there ‘in the wild’, it’s vital for users to have an additional protective layer against the unknown.”
 

AVG LinkScanner, which is also incorporated in AVG Internet Security 8.5, further enhances users’ protection against unknown online threats by analysing web pages in real time for hidden threats and exploits such as drive-by downloads. Unlike other safe-surf products which rely on historical data acquired by periodically scanning sites across the Internet based on a variety of criteria, LinkScanner Active Safe-Surf bases its safety ratings on real-time analysis of individual web pages, ensuring an accurate assessment of a page’s current status.

Product availability and pricing

AVG Internet Security 8.5 with IDP is priced to protect up to 3 PCs for one year for less than A$100. This includes free telephone support during Melbourne business hours, backed up by free 24/7 technical support by e-mail.
 

AVG Internet Security 8.5 with IDP is available singly and in multi-license packs for 2, 3, 5 and 10 PCs, with a licence period of 1 or 2 years. AVG 8.5 supports Windows computers running 32-bit and native 64-bit Windows operating systems.
 

The AVG 8.5 security product range for consumers and small business is available for purchase and download from www.avg.com.au, plus through a network of more than 2100 independent software resellers throughout Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.
 

Network versions of AVG 8.5 products are also available, enabling centralised deployment, configuration and reporting, plus remote administration, of all networked PCs across an organisation.
 

Follow AVG on http://twitter.com/officialavgnews
 

About AVG Technologies

AVG is a global security solutions leader protecting more than 80 million consumers and small business computer users in 167 countries from the ever-growing incidence of web threats, viruses, spam, cyber-scams and hackers on the Internet. Headquartered in Amsterdam, AVG has nearly two decades of experience in combating cyber crime and one of the most advanced laboratories for detecting, pre-empting and combating Web-borne threats from around the world. Its free online, downloadable software model allows entry-level users to gain basic anti-virus protection and then to easily and inexpensively upgrade to greater levels of safety and defence in both single and multi-user environments. Nearly 6,000 resellers, partners and distributors team with AVG globally including Amazon.com, CNET, Cisco, Ingram Micro, Play.com, Wal-Mart, and Yahoo!. More information is available at www.avg.com.
 

About AVG (AU/NZ) Pty Ltd — www.avg.com.au

Based in Melbourne, AVG (AU/NZ) Pty Ltd is the Australian, New Zealand and South Pacific distributor of the AVG range of Anti-Virus and Internet Security products. AVG solutions provide comprehensive real-time protection against everything from viruses, spam, spyware, adware, worms, Trojans, phishing and exploits to cyber-criminals, hackers, scammers and identity thieves. AVG products actively protect more than 80 million users worldwide, providing outstanding technical solutions and exceptional value for home, small to medium business and enterprise clients. AVG provides always-on, always up-to-date protection across desktops, servers and email in the home plus corporations, government agencies, utilities and educational institutions.
 

AVG (AU/NZ) has more than 2100 resellers across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.