With the start of a new year come new challenges for the internet security industry. The well publicised activities that surrounded ‘Operation Payback’ and the “hactivists” working in sympathy of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange exposed that even the most supposedly secure websites can be exposed to viral attacks. So what should be the course of action for smaller businesses and domestic users? Well the advice has always been that one of the most important steps when setting up or maintaining your computer software is the installation of a reliable and pervasive anti-virus program. In a commercial environment it is always worth pursuing the advice of a professional IT Support agency.
So what type of anti-virus software should you choose? With so much competition in the market today it is important to select a program which compliments your usage, does not hinder or impede the processing of your OS or any communicative features and is, perhaps most importantly, going to thoroughly and efficiently protect your computer. When I of course refer to antivirus software I am referring to a utility which protects not only from viruses but Trojans, spyware, rootkits, keyloggers, adware, scareware and host of other potential compromising attacks.
One feature of many of 2011’s new antivirus releases is the blurring of the lines between standalone and suite programs. Previous features which would provide a distinction between the two were the presence of personal firewalls and spam filtering tools yet these tools have been integrated into many of the recognised security suites including Panda Antivrus Pro 2011, eScan Anti-virus 11 and McAfee AntiVirus Plues 2011. Spam filtering has also become incorporated into BullGuard Antivirus 10 as well as eScan’s offering. StopSign Internet Security 1.0 includes an optional firewall with inbuilt spam filter. Other new programs include BitDefender Antivirus pro with its full remote management system and an effective anti phishing tool. GData Antivurs 2011 and AVG’s newest free antivirus update also feature anti-phising.
This trend doesn’t however spell the death of the standalone antivirus program, F-Secure Anti-Virus 2011 is completely distinctive from a form of suite or mini suite, while providing a resilient service