Security software market shows steady growth as threats explode
Faced with an ever-increasing number of threats, IT administrators continue to increase spending on security software, a new survey suggests. A recent report from Gartner shows revenue in the sector increased 7.5 percent in 2011 over the year previous. The gains come even as IT spending overall has stagnated due to uncertain economic conditions worldwide.
Altogether, revenues totaled some $17.7 billion last year, with market leading Symantec making up a fifth of that total. Gartner says the company's success in the sector is due to a continuing expansion outside of the antivirus software market and into other sectors, including storage and encryption. Coming in a distant second and third were competitors McAfee and Trend Micro, both making up about seven percent of the market.
DensityScout sniffs out malware in compressed files
You think your PC is infected by something dangerous, but your regular antivirus package hasn’t raised any alerts. So what now?
This is a question we cover fairly often here. Only last week we reported on the latest version of Mandiant Redline, which will scan your system’s executables and highlight those most likely to be malware. Now, CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) Austria has come up with another small contribution in DensityScout; it’s not for PC novices, but if you’re an expert computer user then you could find the program very helpful indeed.
What timing, avast! Free Antivirus for Mac exits beta as OS X security concerns escalate
Macs have been in the news more than normal recently. The Flashback Trojan shows the platform is just as prone to viruses and malware as Windows and other operating systems. Many Mac users believe -- wrongly, it might be added -- that OS X is immune to malware and does not need any form of protection. The latest high-profile infestation highlights the need for Mac security tools and; with almost uncanny timing, avast! Free Antivirus for Mac has exited beta and gone gold.
Software from avast! has been available for Windows for quite some time, and the Mac version of software is based on the same protection engine. The app is broken down into three basic areas -- File System Shield, Mail Shield and Web Shield -- and if you have used the Windows version of the tool, you’ll know pretty much what to expect. As is becoming increasingly common, this security tool takes advantage of community reporting to improve the analysis of suspicious files, helping to allow for faster responses to emerging threats.
Say goodbye to April with one of these 36 downloads
Cloud was the big news this past week, and there were exciting developments in the world of online storage. After what seems like years of waiting, Google Drive 1.0 finally released, extending the idea of Docs and providing users with the opportunity to store any files they want online and keept them synched with their computers. There’s also a mobile version of the app available, Google Drive for Android 1.0.77, that enables access toyour files on the move.
Ubuntu One 2.0.3 has nothing whatsoever to do with the operating system of the same name, but provides you with 5GB of free space for storage and backups. Cloud storage stalwart Dropbox 1.4.0 has been updated and finally becomes stable, as well as adding batch uploading and importing of photos Meanwhile, Microsoft released Microsoft SkyDrive 2012 v16.4 and Microsoft SkyDrive 2.0 iOS with reduced storage levels.
VMware source code leak: 'IT equivalent of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill'
VMware has confirmed that a portion the the source code for its ESX hypervisor was compromised, although the code dates back as early as 2003. That said, a fairly significant portion of the company's customers are still using the platform as VMware works to push them towards its newer hypervisor called ESXi.
A hypervisor in the simplest terms is a virtual machine management platform on which several virtual machines can run concurrently. The hypervisor controls the sharing of virtualized hardware resources. ESXi has a far smaller attack surface, which limits the available avenues of attack on a installation.
Facebook opens antivirus download shop to broaden security resources
Popular social network Facebook has partnered with security vendors Symantec, McAfee, Microsoft, Sophos, and Trend Micro in a program to simultaneously improve Facebook's security and broaden the availability of the antivirus software from each of the partners.
Since 2008, Facebook has kept a URL blacklist, and any time a Facebook user posts a link to one of the blacklisted URL, Facebook pops up an interstitial warning page before the browser actually connects off to the suspicious destination. Facebook's parters in this effort included McAfee, Google, Web of Trust, and Websense.
Norton Identity Safe secures Android, iOS, OS X and Windows passwords
You’ve no doubt noticed that a huge number of websites require you to log into an account before you can do anything useful. This could be your banking site, a forum, a social network, or almost anything else imaginable and in all likelihood you have a huge number of passwords to remember. Some people simply use the same password for everything, but this has obvious security implications. Norton Identity Safe is one possible solution that rivals tools such as KeePass and 1Password as it stores all of you log in details in a secure database.
The app is available for Windows as well as iOS and Android and, providing you make sure you download the software before 1 October 2012, it is completely free of charge. Although there is a regular program installation to run through, the app is really a browser plugin for users of Windows and OS X, and it is compatible with Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera. As all of your password are stored in one place, you will obviously need to create a strong password to keep everything secure, and there is a two-step approach to this.
Microsoft releases Security Essentials 4
Microsoft has released Security Essentials 4.0, the latest version of its lightweight, straightforward antivirus package.
The bulk of the changes this time are under the hood. MSE’s “Automatic Remediation” now does a better job of quarantining threats on its own, for instance, no user intervention required. And Microsoft claims scanning performance and malware detection rates have both improved on the previous build.
Macs may not get PC viruses, but they sure can spread them
What do sexually transmitted diseases and Mac viruses share in common? Surprisingly lots, according to security software developer Sophos. People can spread both without exhibiting symptoms, and the infection rates for "Macs carrying malware and level of Chlamydia infection amongst young people" are about the same.
Say what? That's the question asked in BetaNews group chat this morning about the seemingly strange correlation. But it makes sense to me. My colleague Tim Conneally gets it, too. He observed (after doing a little research): "One in 4 people with Chlamydia have no symptoms. They're saying it's spreading but not affecting the host". That's exactly Sophos' point. The firm found a shocking number of Macs infected with PC viruses, in a 100,000 sampling. The Macs are immune but can infect Windows PCs.
Celebrate Earth Day with one of these 21 downloads
As April's end approaches, there is much software to thrill over. During the past week, the number of exciting releases covered seemingly every category imaginable. Whether you want to keep your computer running smoothly or have photos you want to edit, there’s something here for everyone.
Hard drive maintenance is an essential part of computer ownership and TweakNow HD-Analyzer 1.0 is a handy tool that can be used to free up disk space by identifying large files and folders. Once you have deleted unnecessary files, O&O Defrag 15.5 32-bit is on hand to help you to keep your hard drive defragmented, including remote computers on your network. There is also a 64-bit version of the program available, O&O Defrag 15.5 64-bit.
Apple's Flashback Trojan tool fixes nothing
As if there isn't problem enough, with Apple giving Mac users a false sense of security. Now security software vendors do it, too. Earlier in the week, Symantec reported that the number of Flashback-infected Macs had fallen to 140,000 -- that's from as many as 700,000 by Kaspersky Lab's reckoning. But yesterday, Dr. Web put the number at 500,000, leading Symantec to acknowledge low reporting of actual infections.
The revelation -- and it most certainly is -- comes more than a week after Apple released a security update designed to remove the Flashback Trojan, which also is called Flashfake. Half-a-million compromised Macs, tied together as a botnet, is the tipping point for Apple computers. Apple and its security software partners must rally quick, to kill this beast before it bursts the fragile dike protecting the Mac user community from the tsunamis that occasionally wash across the Windows world. This the turning point, where OS X joins Windows as a platform aggressively targeted by cybercriminals.
As many as 100,000 WordPress blogs infected 700,000 Macs with malware
If computer security is your thing -- it really should be everyone's -- and you own a Mac, Kaspersky's analysis of Flashfake malware, also called Flashback, is a must-read. Gasp, this is only part one. There's more to come from the security software developer.
Flashfake's success -- Kaspersky raises the number of infected Macs to 700,000 from previous 600,000 estimates -- is bigger than the obvious conclusion Apple computers aren't safe havens from cybercriminals. Late last week, Apple released a Flashfake removal tool that contrary to earlier reports failed to substantially reduce the botnet. But as many as 100,000 infected WordPress blogs, the majority in the United States, lay in wait for unpatched Macs or even a Flashfake variant that unleashes another outbreak. Like last year's MacDefender outbreak, cybercriminals used tactics tried and proven against Windows users.
Easy Clean better protects, connects to F-Secure cloud
F-Secure has released an updated version of its stand-alone antivirus detector, Easy Clean.
The new build is smaller than previous releases at under 4MB. You can scan your system just by launching the executable; no installation is required. But most usefully, Easy Clean now contacts F-Secure’s cloud-based servers to obtain details about the very latest threats, so there’s no need for it to download regular updates. (Although, of course, this does also mean that you now must have a fully functional Internet connection for Easy Clean to be of any use.)
IObit Advanced SystemCare adds antivirus protection
PC maintenance specialist IObit has released the first public beta of Advanced SystemCare with Antivirus 2012. Which, as you’ll guess from the name, not only now caters to all your PC maintenance needs, but also includes a full antivirus package as well.
The beta takes a dual-engine approach to protecting your PC, using both IObit and BitDefender technology to detect and block threats. And essentially it provides all the features you’d expect from a basic antivirus package. So you can run quick, full or custom scans; a simple scheduler allows you to configure scans to run automatically; and conveniences like a Silent Mode reduce unnecessary alerts when you’re playing games or other full-screen applications.
Regain your online privacy with Spotflux
If you’re looking to maintain your privacy online then you could sign up for a VPN service. But which one? There’s a lot of choice, and if you’re a networking novice then figuring out which service is right for you can be a real challenge.
But that’s where Spotflux comes in. This interesting new VPN service comes packed with useful functionality --- encryption, ad-blocking, antivirus and more -- yet really couldn’t be any easier to configure.
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