The wait for Monolith’s highly anticipated sequel to F.E.A.R. is almost over! You can check out the awesome launch trailer at the following link: 

http://www.gametrailers.com/game/5453.html

SYDNEY 2 February 2009  – Xbox Australia and Universal Music Australia today announced that in addition to their upcoming Australian concert dates Fall Out Boy will perform an exclusive daytime show for Xbox Sounds on Sunday February 22nd.  The band will perform with the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge as their backdrop, on the deck of Royal Australian Navy vessel, HMAS Tobruk, which will be moored at Garden Island in Sydney Harbour.

“Xbox has everything you need for amazing entertainment in your living room – you can store music, play music and perform music. What better way to celebrate this than to take the experience to iconic Australian locations with leading artists?” said David McLean, Microsoft’s Regional Director for the Entertainment & Devices Division. “We set the bar high with the Pussycat Dolls performance at the Sydney Opera House last year, and we’re keeping it huge by delivering fans a Fall Out Boy performance that money just can’t buy. Seeing them perform in this unique location with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background – it’s going to be awesome and we can’t wait.”

Pete Wentz, bassist from Fall Out Boy commented, “We’re pumped to come back to Australia for our national tour in February and what a great way to cap it off by taking over Sydney Harbour and playing in front of one of the world’s most iconic bridges.”
Xbox Sounds connects people to new and unique music experiences in amazing locations just like Xbox 360 connects people to the most musical fun they can have in their living room with games like Guitar Hero World Tour® (GHWT) and Lips®, the ultimate singing game that is exclusive to Xbox 360.

Xbox Sounds is an invite only event, with tickets offered through competitions and promotions in the lead-up to each performance.

HMAS Tobruk will be a stunning platform for Fall Out Boy. HMAS Tobruk has recently returned from deployment so hosting the event is a welcome reward for the 140 crew. “We’re thrilled to have Xbox Sounds on board for this fantastic event. It is a great opportunity for the Navy, giving our people and competition winners a once in a lifetime experience. Our crew has been working hard and this performance is a great way to say thank you,” said the Commanding Officer of HMAS Tobruk, Commander Peter Thompson, RAN.

To coincide with the Xbox Sounds announcement, Xbox delivers a double whammy for Aussie music fans. Activision and Red Octane have just released a brand new Australia Day themed Guitar Hero World Tour downloadable content pack featuring three of Australia’s top rock acts: silverchair, Wolfmother and The Vines. Fall Out Boy’s hit single “Thnks fr th Mmrs” (pronounced Thanks for the Memories) has also been released as a premium download for Lips®, exclusive to Xbox 360.

Touring Australia in February, Fall Out Boy have recently released their new album, Folie à Deux, featuring the singles “I Don’t Care” and “America’s Suitehearts”. Folie à Deux follows the release of 2007’s album ‘Infinity On High’ which saw Fall Out Boy truly take to the world stage. Selling over 2 million copies worldwide, ‘Infinity On High’ became Fall Out Boy’s first #1 US record, also landing at #1 in New Zealand and #4 in Australia. Spawning four hit singles, Infinity On High picked up Kerrang!, MTV Video Music and MuchMusic awards along the way.

“Fall Out Boy come to Australia as one of the world’s most popular bands and we’re excited to be teaming up with our friends at Xbox for another Xbox Sounds event”, says George Ash, Managing Director of Universal Music Australia.

Joining Fall Out Boy to rock out on the HMAS Tobruk are INNERPARTYSYSTEM and local rockers Slow Down Honey. With their beefy, groove-laden electro-rock INNERPARTYSYSTEM are etching a name for themselves across the globe from playing festivals on both sides of the Atlantic and with the release of their debut single “Don’t Stop”. Pinned as a band to watch in 2009 their debut self-titled album will be released on February 14.

Residing in their sleepy beachside hometown of Terrigal, Slow Down Honey is a fresh new band that unleashes a crackling, electric blend of catchy melodies and layered harmonies.

For more details on how to win tickets to the event please go to www.xbox.com.au.

FALL OUT BOY TOURING FEBRUARY 2009

Sunday February 15 – Challenge Stadium, Perth

Tuesday February 17 – Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Wednesday February 18 – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

Friday February 20 – Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Saturday February 21 – Acer Arena, Sydney

For more information about Fall Out Boy’s February tour please go to

http://www.frontiertouring.com.au/currenttours/Fall_Out_Boy__Australia_and_New_Zealand_2009

For more information about Fall Out Boy please got to www.getmusic.com.au or www.falloutboyrock.com

Melbourne, Australia – February 2, 2009: Ten thousand Victorian Government students who started the 2009 school year today will open the window to a portable virtual classroom under a new three-year trial of mobile, mini netbook computers launched by Premier John Brumby.

Mr Brumby and Education Minister Bronwyn Pike signalled the start of the school year for Victoria’s 536,800 Government school students today by delivering the new mini netbook computers to Hume Central Secondary College.

“We’re helping Victorian students take their learning beyond the classroom walls and out into the world as these powerful and compact netbooks will allow students to learn anywhere and anytime,” Mr Brumby said.

“This Netbook pilot will open the door for thousands of students at more than 344 schools in regional and traditionally lower socio-economic areas to keep pace with all the benefits of modern learning by making 24-hour online access possible for just $1 per week.

“The Victorian Labor Government has made a commitment through our Education Blueprint that we don’t want to see any student left behind when it comes to education, no matter where they live or their social circumstances.

“Education is this government’s number one priority and young people all across the state will start school in 2009 safe in the knowledge that they will continue getting a 21st Century education to equip them for 21st Century jobs.”

Ms Pike said this latest technology education boost will form a three-year Netbook Project seeing 10,000 years 5, 6 and 7 and 8 students using the latest compact mini netbook computers from Acer and Lenovo, equipped with 28 educational software programs.

“This program sends a clear signal across the state – especially to families with concerns about their ability to afford their child all the benefits of a modern education – that  our Government will continue to stand up for them and provide their children every chance to succeed and shine,” Ms Pike said.

“Victorian students and schools are becoming increasingly technology-rich thanks to our unprecedented investment in technology in the classroom, including wireless access point upgrades at all the schools that have opted in to this trial program.

“This trial will deliver affordable access to technology for thousands of Victorian families who will save hundreds of dollars on computer software and they will no longer need to buy their children a scientific calculator and atlas.

“This is just one of many ways this Government will continue to invest in new, cutting-edge education to ensure that Victorian students get better outcomes by having quality schools, teachers, and the best possible learning opportunities and programs.”

Software will include Microsoft Office, Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium, animation program Kahootz, computer aided design program Google SketchUp and a range of other free open source multimedia programs.

Chief Executive Officer of global computing giant Lenovo William Amelio, said his company was looking forward to the trial being run in Victoria’s because Victoria continued to prove itself as an educational leader on a global scale.

“Students increasingly need the tools of technology to help get the most out of their education and we believe that the innovative use of technology can help students, faculty and administrators better meet the ever-increasing challenges of the 21st century,” Mr Amelio said.

“Today’s students are mobile, they learn everywhere. Victoria is providing them the opportunity to bring their IdeaPad netbook virtual classroom with them anywhere and access it anytime.”

In addition to the family contribution, the Government will contribute $312 per device covering two-thirds of the cost. Schools will own the devices, however students can take them home and will have an option to purchase in the final year of the trial.

The Acer and Lenovo mini netbooks, which weigh around one kilogram, are due to be delivered to the schools in late February and will come complete with a webcam and a comprehensive suite of software.

Each netbook is worth about $900 including the protective cover, power cord, six cell battery, warranty and insurance, and comes with 28 educational software programs.

Region
 Number of participating schools
 
Barwon South West
 110
 
Grampians
 85
 
Loddon-Mallee
 136
 
Northern Metropolitan
 13
 
TOTAL
 344

Global Studio Teams Drive Quality and Innovation in Three New Games

Sydney, Australia – February 2, 2009 – Fifteen years; more than 40 countries; close to 100 million games sold. Need for Speed™ has helped to define automotive culture for millions of fans with its embrace of the car lifestyle and its cool rebellious attitude. Today, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) unveiled the details of what is in store for the franchise over the next 12 months, as the property expands to new platforms, new categories and new media.

Need for Speed is committed to providing unique and customized experiences for all types of racing fans by establishing three independent series; simulation, action and arcade racing. Each series will be developed by a highly-specialized team dedicated to delivering the ultimate racing experiences to car enthusiasts around the world – whether they be interested in adrenaline action, arcade fun or authentic simulation.

“We recognize racing videogame fans are very passionate and unique — they want customized gameplay experiences. Whether it’s more of a realistic driving game with accurate car physics or over-the-top cop chases, we are making different games for different audiences,” said Keith Munro, vice president of marketing, Need for Speed. “Each game provides a deep, engaging and rich racing experience. We’re giving players the option to choose the best racing title that suits their style of gameplay.”

Need for Speed SHIFT – Spring 2009 (Australia)

Shift into high gear! Designed to deliver a true driver’s experience that reflects contemporary motorsports, Need for Speed SHIFT is built by racers for racers. Need for Speed SHIFT delivers an authentic and immersive driving experience developed by Slightly Mad Studios in collaboration with executive producer Michael Mann at Black Box and senior vice president Patrick Soderlund at EA Games Europe. Slightly Mad Studios includes developers and designers that worked on the critically acclaimed games GT Legends and GTR 2. Need for Speed SHIFT replicates the true feeling of racing high-end performance cars like never before. Players are thrust into the heart of the action with immersive and exciting features including a stunningly realistic first-person cockpit view camera and an all-new crash mechanic, providing an unrivaled sensation of the speed and feeling of racing a car on the extreme edge of control. 

Soderlund is also part of a racing team that recently competed in the 4th edition of the TOYO TIRES 24H Dubai 2009, the first major race event of the year. His team ranked #5 in the high-profile race. Soderlund and the SHIFT development team are committed to bringing the on-the-track experience to players across the world.

Need for Speed SHIFT will be released on PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) and PC in Spring 2009.

Need for Speed NITRO (Working Title) – Spring 2009 (Australia)

Developed by EA Montreal, Need for Speed NITRO for Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ will have players of all skill levels hooked from the moment they get into the action, while arcade racing fans will be exhilarated by the deep and challenging gameplay. EA Montreal has already established a strong track record of developing for these platforms and will bring their unique creativity and innovation to the Need for Speed franchise.

Gamers can build up their boost as they drift and drag behind their opponents and use it strategically to change the course of the race, but watch out for the cops! Offering a fresh and unique visual style, the game features a variety of licensed cars which can be fully customized to let the game reflect the player’s taste and personality. This evolutionary take on arcade racing, bringing back the best features found in Need for Speed games, comes exclusively to the Nintendo platforms this Spring.

Need for Speed World Online – Winter 2009 in North America, (Summer 2009 in Asia)

Co-developed by Black Box and EA Singapore, Need for Speed World Online takes the race into the largest open world in the history of Need for Speed – designed exclusively for the PC.  Beginning in Asia, this Play 4 Free action racing game will give Need for Speed fans access to licensed cars, parts and multiple game modes. Players will prove their racing supremacy through the sophisticated online matchmaking features and fully customize their profile and their ride.

EA will have more news about the Need for Speed franchise in the months ahead.

For more information on the Need for Speed franchise, please visit: www.needforspeed.com

Exclusive Crew Member, Tommy Cipolla, is Available Upon Pre-Order 

Sydney, Australia – February 2 , 2009 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Paramount Digital Entertainment have announced that The Godfather® II videogame will be available in Australian retail stores on February 26th.  The Godfather II allows players to both act like a mobster and think like a Don, by immersing them in a 1960’s organized crime world.  As a Don, players can build a crew and grow their family in an effort to become the most powerful mob syndicate in America.  Players will be able to choose how and when to use their Made men, either by commanding them directly in battle as part of their crew, or by sending them to do a job in another part of the world – bombing rival family rackets, attacking their businesses, or defending your own.   

Players who pre-order The Godfather II at participating retailers worldwide will receive an exclusive crew member, named Tommy Cipolla, to hire into their family.  While the other soldiers at the start of the game come equipped with one specialty and level-one firearms, Tommy will be the only crew member to possess two specialties – arsonist and medic – as well as carry a level-two double-barreled shotgun.  With Tommy in your family, players will have a strategic advantage in the game, using his advanced skills either directly in battle, or sending him to take over and defend rackets on his own.  

The Godfather II takes the open-world genre in an entirely new direction.  Part of the fascination with The Godfather fiction is the feeling of power that comes with being the Don of an organized crime family – and The Godfather II game puts the control in your hands.  While at its heart The Godfather II remains an action game, it also features deep new strategic gameplay mechanics never before seen in an open-world game.  The strategic elements to the game allow you to extend the fantasy of building and running your own organized crime family.  This means that you have to build and invest in your family, manage your businesses, and reach out to corrupt officials – all of which is done through the revolutionary Don’s View.  The Don’s View is a 3D representation of your criminal empire in all three cities; it allows you to coordinate your strategy, plan hits on rival Made men, attack enemy rackets, and much more.  The Godfather II delivers the ultimate organized crime experience by allowing you to call the shots.

Developed at the EA Redwood Stores studio, The Godfather II will be coming to the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and PC. The Godfather II has been rated MA15+.   

For more information about The Godfather franchise, please visit http://godfather2.ea.com and/or the EA press website at http://info.ea.com.

Sydney, Australia – January 30, 2009 – 2K Sports, the sports publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), today announced that Don King Boxing will be available in Australia and New Zealand stores on March 27th, 2009 for Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo and Nintendo DS™. Don King Boxing provides a revolutionary boxing experience for Wii through accurate controls, a unique story mode, an exhilarating multiplayer system, and use of the *Wii Balance Board. The game is rated PG by the OFLC for both platforms.

“Don King Boxing has been specifically designed to take advantage of everything the Wii and DS have to offer,” said Christoph Hartmann, 2K president. “We worked closely with Nintendo to make Don King Boxing a unique experience, especially using the Wii Balance Board. It is great for those who love boxing or those who just want a fun way to get some exercise.”
 
Developed by 2K China, Don King Boxing allows players to fight with or against over 20 licensed boxers in real venues like Madison Square Garden, Boardwalk Hall, and Trump Taj Majal. Players will experience what it’s like to be a real boxer as they throw jabs, hooks, and uppercuts with both hands all while ducking and dodging blows on the Wii Balance Board.

To get in shape, 2K Sports worked closely with Don King and his staff to design a Boxercise portion of the game that mimics the routines used by real boxers. The training program isn’t just for the human player; it also helps to improve your boxer’s skills for the next match in the game.

“Don King Boxing is not your prototypical boxing game,” Don King said. “What we have done here is truly innovative and provocative. Our goal with 2K Sports was to create realistic motions that most closely resemble the actual training regimens of prizefighters for maximum results.” 
 
King added, “We’ve created our best set of real-life boxing exercises ever for Don King Boxing. It wouldn’t surprise me if a future world champion was introduced to the sport through this game. This is where you can get the skills that make for thrills.”

For more information about Don King Boxing, log onto http://www.2ksports.com/games/donkingboxing.

*The Wii Balance Board provides additional experiences for the game but is not required for play. Wii Balance Board sold separately with Wii Fit.
 
About Take-Two Interactive Software

Headquartered in New York City, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., is a global developer, marketer, distributor and publisher of interactive entertainment software games for the PC, PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, Xbox 360 and Xbox video game and entertainment systems from Microsoft, Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo GameCube™ and Game Boy® Advance. The Company publishes and develops products through its wholly owned labels Rockstar Games, 2K Games, 2K Sports and 2K Play, and distributes software, hardware and accessories in North America through its Jack of All Games subsidiary. Take-Two’s common stock is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the symbol TTWO. For more corporate and product information please visit our website at www.take2games.com.

The Don and Crown logo is a registered trademark of Don King Productions, Inc., and such logo and Don King’s name, image and likeness are used under the license of Don King Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. 

Wii and Nintendo DS are trademarks of Nintendo.

All trademarks and copyrights contained herein are the property of their respective holders.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The statements contained herein which are not historical facts are considered forward-looking statements under federal securities laws and may be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “projects,” “seeks,” “will,” or words of similar meaning and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the outlook for the Company’s future business and financial performance. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs of our management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to them, which are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Actual outcomes and results may vary materially from these forward-looking statements based on a variety of risks and uncertainties including:  our dependence on key management and product development personnel, our dependence on our Grand Theft Auto products and our ability to develop other hit titles for current generation platforms, the timely release and significant market acceptance of our games, the realization of the anticipated benefits from our recent business reorganization, the ability to maintain acceptable pricing levels on our games, our reliance on a primary distribution service provider for a significant portion of our products, our ability to raise capital if needed, risks associated with international operations, the matters relating to the Special Committee’s investigation of the Company’s stock option grants and the claims and proceedings relating thereto (including stockholder and derivative litigation, actions by the SEC and/or other governmental agencies and negative tax or other implications for the Company resulting from any accounting adjustments or other factors) and risks associated with the Company’s concluded process to evaluate its strategic alternatives including stockholder litigation arising there from. Other important factors and information are contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2008, in the section entitled “Risk Factors,” and the Company’s other periodic filings with the SEC, and can be accessed at www.take2games.com.  All forward-looking statements are qualified by these cautionary statements and apply only as of the date they are made.  The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

So here we area again another year has zipped by with the game industry churning out the good and some no so good games.  2008 Far Cry 2 gave us some cool adventuring in the jungles and grasslands of Africa.  Spiderman Web Of Shadows made us feel like the Amazing Spiderman again, Fallout 3 had us leaving the vault and exploring again, and the Brothers In Arms series and Call Of Duty series proved that WW2 had a few more stories and gaming in it.

2009 can only get better for all platforms across the board.  Some of the PC titles that have us twitching and just waiting to give our Alienware reviewing system a good work out are titles such as Diablo III. Who is not looking forward to some dungeon-delving sword slashing fireball-throwing fun? Plus, treasure, who can forget the treasure? 

StarCraft II is another game title that has everyone a buzz with anticipation. Yes, oh fellow Impulse Gamers those alien races are coming back for some more intergalactic conflict. The Protoss, Terran, and Zerg make a comeback in Blizzard’s StarCraft II. It is promising to be a hectic real time strategy game that will only increase the popularity of this legendary series.

Oh Yes, 2009 holds a lot of promise for a lot of gaming goodness to keep us well entertained.  Amid rumors of a premature death of the title “Aliens: Colonial Marines” that hit some web sites, both publisher SEGA and developer Gearbox swept aside such rumors. Let us hope so. I want to feel the rush of a stand up fight again against the Alien foe. While some of the screen shots or shots released thus far about the title look cool, we can only hope the game play, the story and the over all atmosphere of this awesome franchise rings true, and bring us a stellar experience. Too many other promising titles over the past year, have unfortunately hit the dreaded generic gaming pitfall. With Gearbox behind the Aliens: Colonial Marines title though we have a pre conceived good will feeling for the title based on Gearbox’s other game titles through their development history being so solid.

While some of the other staff here at Impulse Gamer are also looking forward to this next title as well. Somehow, I have some underlying dread for Ghostbusters. Yet another game that has had rumors of being a dead game, Ghostbusters seems to be on track.  With a press release that toted the Blu Ray release of the original movies, within this press release was the talk of June 15th being the release date for the Ghostbusters game. While the concept is pretty cool, has it been too long to garner interest in enough gamers to bring the title any recognition. Better yet, will the story and game play be there? Or will this be a tired rehash that comes off like a throw away title. Oh Don’t get me wrong, I would like nothing better than for this title to rock.  For this title I have to take a watch and see attitude, and hope the game lives up to some of the great looking screen shots.

Lastly, at least for this write up, we await the new Riddick game. “Riddick Assault on Dark Athena”.  Word is the game is to hit sometime early in 2009. Such a cool character and we love to take on the adventures of such a character. Science fiction or science fantasy has long been a rich source for games and movies. The Riddick franchise is yet another one of those that many of us seem to enjoy. Keep your fingers and toes crossed and let’s hope for a gaming experience that will live up to such stellar game franchises. Yes, 2009 has huge promise for our gaming entertainment and it’s not even past the first month of the year yet.

Play Street Fighter IV And Win Exclusive Merchandise

Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of videogames, can today announce a whirlwind Street Fighter IV tour of locations up and down the UK, allowing gamers a chance to sample the greatest fighting game of all time in its original form ahead of the console release, and potentially win some exclusive Street Fighter IV merchandise.

New data from AVG illustrates extent of problem, shortcomings of traditional protection approaches
 
Melbourne, January 29th, 2009 – – AVG Technologies, a leading developer of Internet threat protection solutions, has released statistics that paint a disturbing picture of the way web-borne threats are developing. The primary attribute of web infections today is transience – close to 60 percent of sites launching so-called drive-by downloads or social engineering attacks are infective for one day or less. If measured at the page level rather than the site level, 74 to 86 percent of all poisoned pages are infective for one day or less.
 
Drive-by downloads are malware infections that are automatically delivered to website visitors’ systems without those visitors having to take any action at all – not even a click on a link is required to deliver the kind of infection that can steal passwords, bank account information and more.
 
This transience means that any user relying on security software that derives its protection from traditional virus signatures or from centralized periodic scans of the millions of sites active on the web at any given time is completely unprotected at that crucial time when they visit a site poisoned with one of these transient infections. Drilling further into the data, tracking specific types of infections, the company has found that:
 
94 percent of sites distributing ‘fake codec’ attacks – when the user is offered a codec, or video conversion tool, in order to view or download a particular video but is in reality a piece of malware – are usually active for less than 10 days, with 62 percent active for less than one day. See Illustration A below for a visual that shows this dramatic drop-off rate.
91 percent of sites distributing attacks from China – frequently stealing seemingly-harmless items like World of Warcraft game passwords which can be resold on sites like eBay for hard currency – are typically active for less than 12 days, with almost 50 percent active for less than one day.
72 percent of sites distributing fake anti-spyware products that in fact deposit spyware onto the user’s machine and then offer to remove it for a fee are active on average for less than two weeks, with 28 percent active for less than one day.
 

Figure A: Drop-off in days active for fake codec attacks
 
There are a few other interesting interrelationships that give insight to how these criminals operate. In one example, the data shows that criminals using fake codec attacks use 4.6 times as many unique pages as do criminals employing a fake anti-spyware attack. However, the data also shows that fake anti-spyware attacks affect 68 percent more users than fake codec attacks. This suggests that the fake anti-spyware attack is generally more effective than the fake codec attack – and also much more evasive to centralized periodic scanning solutions.
 
According to AVG Technologies’ CEO J.R. Smith, “the hallmark of today’s web-borne infections is ‘here today, gone tomorrow’. Any web security product that relies on visiting and scanning websites to deliver a relative safety rating to it users would have to visit every one of the hundreds of millions of sites on the Internet every day to provide protection against these threats. Our recent acquisition of Sana Security’s behavioral analysis technology adds another important layer of protection against new and unknown threats.”
 
The rate of appearance of these ‘here today, gone tomorrow sites’ is also increasing – in just the past three months, AVG researchers have seen the average number of unique new infective sites that appear growing from 100,000-200,000 a day to 200,000-300,000 a day, a pattern that looks set to continue. Figure B below charts this growth.
 

 
Figure B: New exploitive URLs found daily
 
It appears that the unique URL counts are rising in part because cybercriminals are making more use of query string tokens to target individual users, a disturbing trend that AVG researchers are investigating further.
 
Of course, the use of the Internet as a way to distribute infections is nothing new – attackers have been trying for years to get unsuspecting users to download programs that will steal valuable information and then ‘phone home’ that information to hackers. What’s new is that organized crime is now making use of malware purchased from hackers on one of the many online ‘malware markets’ in existence today, and carefully selecting an untraceable mechanism, such as syndicated randomized banner ad placement, to distribute their lures.
 
Transient, rapidly-changing information is also a hallmark of social networks, and cybercriminals have found fertile territory in messages or bulletins from ,friends’ that direct users to malicious sites, which, again, download infective malware in the background. Links to user-generated music or video may ask visitors to download one of those fake codecs – something that does not seem unreasonable in the circumstances – but which carries a hidden threat.
 
AVG Technologies’ Chief Research Officer Roger Thompson notes three key factors that make it particularly difficult for security companies to track and detect these types of threats: “Firstly, it takes a long time to detect and close down threats distributed in random rotation across thousands of different pages on a large social networking or other extensive site. Secondly, the threat is usually short-lived – a malicious program delivered through a popular site does not need to run for long to lure a large number of victims. And thirdly, the Internet is so large that scanning every web page for a threat that may only be present for a few hours or days is simply not feasible.
 
“And to make matters worse, the more sophisticated attackers know how to hide from roving scanners: they identify the IP addresses used by these scanners and make sure not to show themselves when those IP addresses come calling. But of course, none of that is actually relevant to the people who get infected during those few critical hours.”
 
AVG takes a different approach to protecting users against these insidious threats. The company’s Exploit Prevention Labs research brings together data from multiple sources to add a vital layer of real-time protection to all AVG products on top of the company’s core signature-based malware detection technology. This additional protection will now be extended further with the acquisition of the Sana Security identity protection and behavior analysis technology.
 
Thompson believes this layered approach is vital to the provision of timely protection. “If a site contains one bad thing, it might easily contain multiple bad things – and usually does. By bringing together multiple data sources and watching how all the various elements interact with each other, we’re able to build a very complete picture of individual threats.
 
“It’s important to understand that it is no longer feasible to provide protection against every individual virus out there – our labs are seeing tens of thousands of new viruses every day. So what we do is look at the behavior of these threats – which is a much more manageable task because there are far fewer different ways in which the threats are delivered. It’s rather like detecting letter bombs – we get enough data from our research to be able to identify a threat (the bomb) by the delivery mechanism (the envelope enclosing the bomb), so we don’t need to open the envelope, thus risking the user’s data by causing the bomb to go off.”
 
AVG security software provides the most timely, precise and reliable safe searching and surfing protection by analyzing web pages at the only time it matters – when the user is about to visit them. AVG offers the industry’s only real-time web exploit detection and prevention, using proprietary behavioral analysis and other breakthrough technologies to protect personal information and defend against unwanted intrusions while users are on the web.
 
About AVG (AU/NZ) Pty Ltd – www.avg.com.au
Based in Melbourne, AVG (AU/NZ) Pty Ltd is the Australia, 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 over 2,100 resellers across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

The trailer is available to either view or download:  

To view: http://uplay.uk.ubi.com/videos/8k4wczgz-csi-ny-the-game-launch-trailer.htm 

To download: http://static2.cdn.ubi.com/emea/videos/download/all/csi_ny_launch_trailer_UK_Download_720p.zip