SYDNEY & AUCKLAND – September 5, 2011 – BitDefender, an award winning provider of innovative internet security solutions, has released the beta version of Safego for Twitter. Safego protects your Twitter account from threats such as spam links, while alerting you to Twitter profiles that may be spreading malware or used for phishing.

Safego is a free tool designed to scan social network users’ accounts and detect spam, scams and other e-threats, while also keeping users aware of the level of personal information that they are exposing online. Initially launched for Facebook users, Bitdefender Safego is now ready to protect Twitter accounts. By using BitDefender’s anti-malware and anti-phishing engines, Bitdefender Safego keeps your Twitter account safe by: 

• Checking unknown Twitter profiles before you follow them 
• Checking the accounts you are currently following 
• Scanning messages sent to you for spam, suspicious links or hijacking attempts

Once installed, Safego for Twitter scans your account automatically without requiring any input, and provides you with updates based on an easy-to-understand colour-coding scheme:

• Red: highly suspicious accounts, which may be spreading malware, spam or may be used for phishing (severe threat)
• Yellow: accounts that attract followers using  an annoying or spam-driven mechanism (moderate threat)
• Grey: accounts from which no message has been sent for the past 30+ days (low threat)
• Green: safe accounts

“The number of socially engineered attacks has risen dramatically over the course of the year. These attacks prey on the inherent trust that we have for those within our personal social networks and it’s no surprise that they’re very effective at spreading quickly,” says Catalin Cosoi, head of BitDefender’s Online Research Lab. “BitDefender’s Safego for Twitter is the missing piece of the puzzle that secures your Twitter interactions from malware, spam or phishing attempts.”

Safego for Twitter also features a scan on-demand function that is handy for checking whether the account you wish to follow is safe, before you actually follow them. Potential threats lurking behind shortened URL links are also automatically scanned, and the use profile categorised according to the threat level.

Since its launch in October 2010, Safego for Facebook has helped detect nearly 340,000 infected objects worldwide, keeping its users and their Facebook friends safe from malware threats.