SYDNEY, 5 September 2013 – Norton by Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced the release of the latest versions of award-winning Norton core security products, which keep consumers safe from evolving threats in their daily online lives. The latest versions improve on the industry’s leading protection and performance, and are designed for compatibility with the new features of Windows 8.1.

According to the Symantec Security Threat Report, web attacks increased 30 percent in 2012, driven by the easy availability of malware toolkits and the high frequency of unpatched vulnerabilities on websites.

“Consumers can be attacked even when they visit a legitimate website, putting their devices and personal information at risk,” said David Hall, Consumer Product Marketing Manager, Pacific Region, Symantec. “With the latest Norton releases, we are delivering the comprehensive security required to protect today’s devices against new and evolving threats, without impacting performance.”

What’s New and Improved

Each of the products’ five patented layers of protection saw many improvements to security, performance and usability. The key enhancements include:

• Advanced repair – Drawing on Symantec’s Global Intelligence Network, new advanced repair capabilities leverage a broader set of internet-connected resources to repair with greater consistency.

• Improved SONAR engine – This year the products have significantly improved the behavioural-based protection engine called SONAR, which operates on the premise that while the physical nature of malware changes, its behaviour often does not. As a result, SONAR now allows the latest products to discover and shut down malware that attempts to disguise its bad behaviour by operating inside legitimate Windows processes.

• SONAR-assisted remediation and clean-up – SONAR helps with the removal and clean-up of malware attempts by saving the evidence of the attack for later use by Norton’s repair technologies. This remediation helps to ensure that all traces of a malware attack are removed and a system is returned to its original state.

• Simpler setup and management – Users can quickly download and install the latest version of their product for their device type and subsequently ensure that all their devices are protected.

• Faster performance – Based on recent testing, compared with last year’s releases, Norton products have improved boot time by 15 percent, install speed by 10 percent and memory usage during scan by 100MBs, resulting in the fastest and lightest performance yet. (Source: PassMark, August 2013)

• Enhanced Norton Identity Safe – This product release brings a whole new look to Norton’s password management tool. It also includes improved form filling, with drag-and-drop functionality and full vault searches available directly from the toolbar to help manage passwords even more securely and conveniently.

Pricing and availability of the latest versions of Norton 360 Multi-Device ^[1] Norton 360, Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus will be available in Australia shortly.

In addition, Norton One  will be updated with the features in the latest release of Norton 360. Customers with a valid product subscription are eligible to receive the latest product updates via the subscription service model. For more information, visit the Norton Update Centre at http://updatecenter.norton.com.

About Norton by Symantec

Norton protects the stuff that matters to consumers, across all aspects of their digital lives. Norton provides a range of security solutions including technologies for PCs and mobile devices, live tech support services and online backup. Like Norton on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NortonAU.

Melbourne, 5 September 2013 – AVG Technologies AU today launched its 2014 product portfolio. Spanning all the most popular operating systems and devices, the comprehensive line-up is designed to help consumers and business owners secure, simplify and keep control of their digital lives.

As well as adding new features and functionality to its core security products, AVG also reveals its new free AVG PrivacyFix™ application which makes it easy for customers to manage their online privacy settings across a broad range of social media services as well as every day websites.

Michael McKinnon, Security Advisor at AVG Technologies AU, said: “Few people could have predicted the extent of the Internet’s huge impact on our lives, or that around 2.5 billion of us now use it. Over the next five years, we’ll be joined online by another 2.5 billion people who will access the web using an increasingly broad array of devices and services. This staggering growth promises great innovations and benefits. It also makes us question what personal information and insights we are prepared to give away in return for this connected citizenship. AVG’s 2014 product range is designed to give our customers choice, control and confidence to be themselves when online.”

A recent AVG survey of nearly 5000 people across eight countries, including 381 in Australia, revealed that 59 percent of people use at least three internet-connected devices at home, and that we also use an average of three different operating systems in our daily lives. With so many devices to manage and interfaces to understand, it’s perhaps little surprise people are routinely struggling to sync their media and data efficiently, or to keep their gadgets working at optimum level – nearly a quarter (24 percent) of the people surveyed encounter device malfunctions on a weekly basis. The top three most common issues are programs or apps crashing (38 percent), slow-running devices (36 percent) and devices freezing (25 percent).

The survey also reported that 26 percent of respondents spend over an hour every week duplicating email management across their devices.  In addition, over half (51 percent) said they use a different operating system for work devices compared to those they have at home.  This variety is far from being a conscious decision; respondents appeared to prefer the simplicity of using just one operating system, with only 15 percent favouring the use of multiple operating systems.

McKinnon said: “Our research shows that today’s ultra-connected world isn’t always as seamless, efficient or reliable as we might hope as we navigate via multiple devices and platforms. It’s AVG’s mission to simplify technology to help people stay safe online, keep personal data private, and get the maximum enjoyment and performance from their devices. We’ve built on the strong foundations of our 2013 products by adding extra privacy, protection and performance features, streamlining user interfaces and delivering a true multi-device, multi-platform solution to our increasingly mobile and connected customers.”

There are six key products in the 2014 range:

·         AVG FREE 2014: the new version of AVG’s award-winning free solution includes the brand new File Shredder feature to help keep sensitive data private. It provides peace of mind by detecting and removing viruses and protecting users while searching, browsing, social networking and emailing.

·         AVG AntiVirus 2014: includes File Shredder and also Data Safe, which encrypts and securely stores valuable files on a virtual disk on your PC. This is advanced protection for people who don’t shop or bank online, but still want to search, surf, email and download safely.

·         AVG Internet Security 2014: the ultimate protection for anyone who wants complete online peace-of-mind, without sacrificing speed or security. Extended Data Safe functionality offers multiple secure virtual drives, while smart performance technology lets you play games and stream video without lags caused by scheduled updates and scans.

·         AVG PC TuneUp® 2014: monitors and automatically maintains your PC to ensure trouble-free operation, with less crashing and increased speed, disk space and battery life.   Based on customer requests and research, there are improvements across the board to the most popular features, a much improved UI, and new capabilities to clean up your hard drive and further extend battery life: Duplicate Finder, Disk Cleaner, Browser Cleaner and Flight Mode.

·         AVG PrivacyFix™ puts control of your personal online privacy back in your hands. Available on your PC, mobile and tablet, it allows you to check, manage and personalise your privacy settings across popular sites such as Facebook, Google and LinkedIn, as well as overall tracking across websites in general, all from one easy-to-use central control panel.

·         AVG AntiVirus PRO v3.3 for Android™ is the latest version of AVG’s market-leading application for Android smartphones and tablets. It helps to protect your devices by combatting viruses and malware so you can download media and apps, and browse the web with confidence. The advanced anti-theft features also help you to find your device if it’s lost or stolen.

All these products are now available for download from www.avg.com.au.