AVG bumps up security software

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 03 March 2009 08:50

Business IT - Security

Also new is AVG Internet Security 8.5, which adds identity protection features to the package's existing features.

"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," company officials said.

"If it spots something suspicious that could indicate an attempted ID theft attack, it shuts that activity down, preventing any possible theft from happening."

Watching for suspicious behaviours means the software can detect that something is wrong even if the exact threat hasn't been identified and an update issued.

Such mechanisms are already in use by other security vendors.

The downside is that there is a greater risk that a legitimate program will be misidentified as malware. Given the range and scope of attacks, that might not be a bad trade-off.

The identity protection technology was gained by AVG when it acquired Sana Security earlier this year, while LinkScanner came from the Exploit Prevention Labs acquisition in late 2007.

And there's more - see page 3.