Software News Daily » Security Issues

Intego – Antivirus and Security for Mac

Kyle — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:28:04 +0000

SoftwareMedia.com is now carrying Intego Mac Antivirus and Security software!

The Internet is rife with dangers: from viruses and malware that can infect and delete files, to hackers and vandals who can infiltrate computers. Mac users have special security needs, and Intego has been working to protect them from the dangers of the Internet for more than ten years. Founded in 1997, Intego is the only company focusing solely on Mac security. With a full range of products to protect Macs, Intego makes the Internet a safer place for Mac users.

Top Ten Best Antivirus for 2012

Kyle — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:34:11 +0000

As the new year approaches we are faced with the eventuality that some malicious jerks with knowledge of computer coding -and too much time on their hands- will invariably unleash upon the world ever more vicious and malignant viruses and malware to infect our computer systems.

Fortunately for us, there exists amidst this digital Black Plague an industry of software developers who work tirelessly to create new and more effective virus protection software in an effort to stem this seemingly unending tide of binary evil.

We firmly believe in the idea of an informed consumer, and therefore, the staff at SoftwareNewsDaily have scoured the interwebs for independent reviews, and compiled a list of the top ten best antivirus software for 2012.

10. Vipre Antivirus 4

A relative newcomer to the Antivirus software game, Vipre Antivirus 4 earns some serious points with its efficient, lightweight scanning engine. Unfortunately, while it may excel in efficiency, it seems to fall short of the mark when it comes to protections against phishing, spam and identity theft protection.

9. Avira Antivirus Premium

Equipped with a fine balance between protection and performance, this software is an excellent choice if you don’t mind over-protection (false positives). The Advanced Heuristics Analysis and Detection (AHeAD) system has a tendency to flag non-malware incorrectly.

8. Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus + 2012

Trend Micro’s recently revamped line of security software delivers fast, lightweight protection and utilizes cloud technology to provide real-time updates to your software. However, a lack of defense against spam and phishing make this product fall behind a few of its competitors.

7. McAffee Antivirus Plus 2012

McAfee has long been a household name in the realm of antivirus protection, so it is no surprise that they have made the top 10 list once again. McAfee earns more than a few gold stars for its exceptional protection against Viruses, Trojans, spyware and other threats, however its lack of password protection, and not-so-great defenses against keyloggers caused this program to lose some points.

6. AVG Antivirus 2012

Exceptional malware protection, continual updates, plus LinkScanner technology and Social Media Protection make this one of the best antivirus products available on the consumer market. However, that awesome protection power comes at the cost of speed.

5. ESET Nod32 Antivirus 5

Advanced diagostic tools, heuristic detection and little or no slowdown, this security program delivers powerful protection for a very good price. The main problem that consumers havefound is in the somewhat clunky, outdated user interface.

4. Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus 2012

A new, cloud-based approach from webroot delivers a fast, effective defense against many different types of malware, while using as few system resources as possible. The lightning-fast scans, minimal system resource consumption, automatic updates and free technical support brings this product almost to the top of the list.

3. Norton Antivirus 2012

Norton is back with their acclaimed antivirus software, ready to tackle yet another year’s worth of malware and viruses. With outstanding security, a light footprint and exceptional technical support, Norton Antivirus 2012 is one of our top recommendations.

2. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012

Kaspersky Anti-Virus delivers unbelievable virus and malware protection at -reportedly- a 100% success rate. Intelligent scanning of your system blocks threats before they get anywhere near your computer, and comprehensive, always up-to-date virus definitions ensure that you are always protected. The only drawback to this program is -possibly- the price tag.

1. BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012

At the top of the leaderboard for the best antivirus of 2012 is BitDefender Antivirus Plus. This software features an unbeatable, award-winning combination of state-of-the-art virus and malwareprotections, social media defense, and comprehensive updates to ensure that your systems receive unparalleled protection, without breaking the bank. Some of the features included in 2012 that placed BitDefender ahead of its competition include the new Virtualized Browser, Rescue Mode and Scan Dispatcher.

Symantec Backup Exec 2010 Review

Justin — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:06:42 +0000

For a business, few things are more detrimental than losing your data. Backup and recovery solutions are numerous and most business owners don’t know if their current solution is sufficient. Industry leader Symantec has a powerful solution for SMBs. This Symantec Backup Exec 2010 review will help you see the key features of this backup software program and know if Backup Exec 2010 is the right choice for you.

Addressing Today’s Top Backup and Recovery Challenges:

Only 27% of SMBs suppose their existing backup procedure sufficiently protects their business information, regarding half of SMBs have vanished data off computers; about 70% lost data permanently.
59% of SMBs can only tolerate 4 hours or less of downtime before significant revenue loss or other adverse business impact.
Up to 70% of data is duplicated and hasn’t been accessed in additional than 90 days. Over 65% of companies do not have sufficient backup safety for essential server environments
57% of midsize organizations increase storage enlargement by 11-30% per annum

In fact, according to the Symantec Disaster Recovery Global Data Survey from June 2009, the average cost per business downtime is approx $287,000, if your company faces multiple downtime periods in a year it quickly becomes a costly risk. So how can Symantec help you ensure rapid, reliable data recovery while keeping storage costs at a minimum?

Overview:

Symantec Backup Exec 2010 delivers market most important backup and recovery defense from server to desktop. Effortlessly guard extra data while you reduce storage space costs and get better backup performance throughout integrated deduplication and archiving technology. Shrink business downtime with unrivaled technology that recovers critical Microsoft applications and VMware or Microsoft Hyper-V virtual environments in seconds. Meet your recovery point objectives with continuous data protection to ensure reliable recovery of an entire application and efficiently restore a granular email or individual file/folder.

Symantec Backup Exec also delivers centralized administration to simply extend your backup infrastructure diagonally a distributed environment and remote offices so your server and desktop data protection is easily managed from a central. Professionally manage both Windows and non-Windows systems through a single console including UNIX, Linux, MAC, and NetWare, including remote media server support for Linux servers.

Overall, Backup Exec 2010 is designed to enthusiastically optimize any Windows data protection approach serving you look after more data while utilizing less storage in general saving you time and money.

Key Benefits:

Delivers market leading Windows data protection with more than 1.5 million customers globally.

Trim down storage space expenditure while optimizing network consumption through integrated deduplication and archiving technology.
First-to-market granular healing for Exchange, SQL and Active Directory environments running in a VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V atmosphere.
All-inclusive disk and tape storage for the newest physical and virtual server systems although one console together with VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V virtual systems.
Shield non-Windows servers and make the most of performance of supported NDMP filers and SAN environments throughout scalable remote agents and options.

Comprehensive Backup and Recovery:

Backup Exec 2010 in addition delivers copyright pending Granular Recovery Technology allow businesses to get better data in seconds, together with business significant information such as individual electronic mail messages, folders, and documents, from a sole backup. An elective centralized administration console provides scalable administration of spread backup servers.

New road and rail network management is also accessible for basic inventory, deployment and upgrades of Backup Exec licenses and software patches however a single console. On the whole, sophisticated database and groupware agents and storage options simply expand data defense to protect to vital applications and provide added elasticity for virtually any storage environments.

Latest Product Highlights:

Latest incorporated deduplication choice (using Symantec Net-Backup Pure Disk technology) reduces backup era and storage costs.
Improved Agent for Enterprise Vault automates backup and recovery of together Enterprise Vault 8 and 9 with the facility to without problems recover an Enterprise Vault site or individual indexes.
NEW Lotus Domino 8.5.x hold up with easy backup and recovery of the Domino addition and Object Service (DAOS) accumulate and connected NLO files.
Improved fundamental Tape Library (VTL) support and licensing with no trouble keep a VTL storage environment as a single device and analysis valid VTL functions with new licensing per VTL environment.
Original Backup recommendation tool identifies potential gaps in your Windows backup strategy and provides recommendations on the agents necessary to guarantee absolute data security.

Demonstrated & Reliable:

Symantec Backup Exec is based on more than two decades of demonstrated, Microsoft certified engineering. The groundbreaking architecture entirely incorporates Microsoft design principles, serving to make sure 100 percent compatibility with the latest Microsoft Windows Server. Backup Exec also provides extra security with flexible 128-bit or 265-bit AES encryption crossways the network or off to storage devices so vital data is secure whether in transit or at rest.

Backup Exec 2010 delivers an uncomplicated to mange interface and calendar outlook to rapidly pathway and check backup and recovery jobs. It will recognize possible harms that grounds job failures, and then inform the administrator so that corrective action can be taken. Understand additional benefits with automatic discovery of latest resources, which enables administrators to generate a job for detecting new, unprotected resources that are at threat and in require of backup. Symantec Backup Exec Agents and options simply increase any Backup Exec environment to hold up critical applications, databases, and storage configurations.

System Requirement (Deduplication is performed):

Media Server:

X64-bit Media Server
One Quad-core or 2x dual-core processors
1GB physical memory for each 1TB of deduplicated storage used.

Client/Source:

1x dual-core processors
1GB physical memory

Requirements for using the deduplication storage folder:

Storage location of the deduplication storage folder must be seen as a local volume to the Backup Exec media server
For every 1 TB of storage, 1 GB of RAM must be available

Farhan contributed to this article.

Trend Micro 3 for 2

Kyle — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 22:14:54 +0000

Update: This promotion has ended on 9/30/2011. Sign up for our email notifications to stay current on up-to-date software news, reviews and promotions.

For more than 20 years, Trend Micro has been a worldwide leader in web, messaging and endpoint security software with such amazing software titles as Endpoint Protection, Business Security and Control Manager.

In response to overwhelmingly popular demand, Trend Micro has announced that they are reviving the wildly popular “3 for 2″ program. Until September 30th, 2011, customers purchasing new, 2-year licenses of Trend Micro Enterprise Security for Endpoints or Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security will receive an additional year at no extra charge.

Enterprise Security for Endpoints is a combination of anti-malware and in-cloud protection software that safeguards your PCs, notebooks, tablets, smartphones and laptops from external threats. The new File Reputation in OfficeScan shifts the burden of pattern file management into the cloud, freeing up your resources, and Web Reputation ensures the security of your endpoints by denying access to known malicious sites.

Worry-Free Business Security is an anti-malware and anti-spam software that provides businesses with a more effective, more intelligent, and more easy-to-use to safeguard their assets from internet threats. Worry-Free Business security defends against viruses, spyware, spam and other threats before they reach your business, and continuously updates your protection in order to more quickly detect and block threats.

To learn more, call our certified licensing experts at 1-800-474-1045 Ext. 3 or email our sales team at sales@softwaremedia.com.

Microsoft Announces “BlueHat Prize” for Exploit Patches

Justin — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:02:11 +0000

IT professionals from all over the world converge for the annual Black Hat Technical Security Conference held in Las Vegas every year. This year it is being held at Caesars Palace. Along with great training sessions and briefings featuring the industry’s top security experts, individuals show off their skills and tools to help other members in the community. Additionally, companies will make special announcements. Yesterday, Microsoft announced the BlueHat Prize.

The BlueHat Prize is a $250,000 contest designed to eradicate entire classes of exploits. Some companies, like Google, for example, will offer payments for vulnerability reports submitted by users. These “bug bounties” and as they are often times called, provide companies with much-needed extra sets of eyes to test out products as they are live to help patch security leaks in the software code. With the BlueHat Prize, Microsoft has decided to go in a different direction. They don’t want to just fix the occasional bug and exploit. They want to strike at the heart of hackers and stop entire classes of exploits.

By offering a larger lump cash reward, Microsoft hopes programmers will see this as a serious project and use their found bugs for patching and defense, as opposed to (the also lucrative) selling of bug reports to the highest hacker bidder. Hats-off (pun intended) to Microsoft with this new exploit hunt program, and good luck to all the white knights of the security industry.

Hackers Declare War? The “AntiSec” Movement

Justin — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:36:11 +0000

Websites all over are blogging about the announcement made by LulzSec yesterday. Their latest rant, called “Operation AntiSec,” calls for the hacking of government and corporate websites. Teaming up with hacker group Anonymous, they wish to deface these sites as well as leak any classified info they can get a hold of. All of this is to be done in the name of privacy and information freedom.

Regardless of your views on government censoring and the new buzz-word “Hacktivism,” protecting your own private information is a must in today’s cyber-world. Home and business computers need to be protected from unwanted intruders. Breaching security checkpoints and patching leaks is a battle that’s been raging for years, and won’t be ending any time soon. Make sure your network is up-to-date with the latest security software.

Symantec PGP – One stop solution for data encryption

Justin — Tue, 03 May 2011 12:00:03 +0000

Constant constraints of security-compromises in communication of encrypted files and folders continually frustrated the corporate environment until the emergence of Symantec in conjunction with PGP products—offering a wide range of security options. Symantec is an established and trusted security provider against a variety of threats and risks at various points for information stored, used or transmitted. PGP Corporation carved out a name for itself in offering impregnable security to integrated applications enabling the organizations negotiate security requirements for emails, network storage, instant messaging, automated processes, file transfers, desktops, laptops and portable storage devices. The fusion of these global leaders offers solutions to most imaginable security issues of organizations.

Symantec PGP is a versatile package with several efficient products addressing specific security issues. Some of the oft used products in the package include PGP Whole Disk Encryption, PGP Portable, PGP Universal Gateway Email, PGP Desktop Email, PGP Command Line and PGP NetShare.

PGP Whole Disk Encryption denies unauthorized access to the encrypted data on removable storage devices, laptops and desktops providing integrated protection. Management issues of policy creation, reporting and distribution are addressed through a centrally managed PGP Universal Server. It offers comprehensive and consistent multi-platform security coverage.

Potential risks of data loss are always prevalent in data exchange processes through portable storage devices like memory cards or USB devices. Preferred for their convenience, these devices are less protected and are susceptible to the whims of malicious hackers. PGP Portable takes care of the organization in matters of secure storage, usage and transportation of data. The system offers endpoint protection and functions in association with device control strategies permitting access only to protected devices. In addition you can work straight from the device without transferring the files to host computers.

PGP Universal Gateway Email, with its standards-based method of email encryption, ensures email communications are secure. It also provides a centrally managed organizational structure; minimizing data breach risks while complying with security and privacy regulatory mandates. Enhancement in communication among the vendor, customer and partner without additional costs is the outcome of this centralized approach to the administration of encryption policies.

Another useful tool in the package is PGP Desktop Email. It acts as a proxy by automatically encrypting the received emails and sending them to desktops and laptops. However, the experience of the end user remains unaffected. The product supports the universal encryption standards and finds the required keys and certificates automatically. It allows a smooth compliance of policies without affecting productivity. A drastic reduction in upfront and operational costs of managing encryption and deployment of emails can be achieved.

Organizations can easily integrate encryption into units of scripts, applications and batch processes using PGP Command Line for the protection of corporate data against threats whether in transit or at rest. This scriptable encryption protects organizational sensitive data like financial transactions, credit card, medical, payroll and other confidential information. This tool can add encryption to the functioning and existing applications and scripts and also can protect the files both at the sending and the receiving servers.

PGP NetShare concentrates on controlling the access and secure sharing of documents, graphics, spreadsheets and other files and folders. This client based encryption can be managed through PGP Universal Server for automatic and transparent encryption of protected files. Access is automatically disabled through embedded encryption protection. Role separation is supported, allowing different levels of permissions to end users, administrators and data owners. Symantec Endpoint Encryption along with PGP can now provide a comprehensive and complete data protection for all end points of every organization.

Thanks to William for contributing to this article.

What is Endpoint Protection?

Kyle — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:30:23 +0000

In this mad world of hackers, cybercriminals and rampant malware, no one -from individuals to businesses- can afford to be unprotected. There are countless protection solutions available, and often it can be difficult to decide on the best internet security for specific needs. For many end-users, firewalls and antivirus programs are ideal, but for those businesses that rely on central servers with many devices connecting at once, endpoint protection is the most likely -and one of the most effective- security solutions available.

Many people are unclear as to what, exactly, endpoint protection entails. Essentially, endpoint protection is security software that is installed on endpoints (individual user devices such as PCs, laptops and handhelds) and centrally managed by the server to which each endpoint connects. The central server/gateway will host the central security program which verifies logins and downloads updates and patches as needed.

Some of the more advanced endpoint protection systems will use network access controls to grant authorizations and limit methods of access to certain devices. When attempting to connect to the network, the central system will determine authorization and ensure that connecting devices are in compliance with access regulations; often this means that devices with unauthorized software such as games and file-sharing programs will be disallowed.

There is a multitude of internet security solutions available on the market today, and choosing the best endpoint protection is often difficult. An excellent product to check out would be Symantec Endpoint Protection 11. Symantec has been a giant in the internet security business since its founding in 1982, and its products and security solutions continue to impress. Combining the benefits of Symantec Antivirus with powerful threat-prevention software, Symantec Endpoint Protection 11 is a powerful security solution for networks of virtually any size.

Hacktivists – Who Are They and How Do We Defend Against Them?

Kyle — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:00:21 +0000

Almost anyone who ever has used a computer -or seen the movie “The Net”- knows what a hacker is, and what it is they generally do. Most people, however, are unaware that not all hackers are malicious digi-ninjas stalking the shadows of cyberspace, ready to infiltrate and steal individuals’ personal information. There exist a great many people who use their prodigious computer skills for what they see as cyber civil-disobedience and righteous sociopolitical reform. These people are known as “Hacktivists.”

Hacktivism -a lovely little portmanteau of hacker and activism- is defined as the practice of promoting a political or social agenda by hacking, especially by defacing or disabling websites.

In one of the more well-known recent instances of cyber-protesting, “Anonymous,” a loose confederation of hackers with ties to the infamous 4chan message boards, launched Denial of Service (DoS) attacks against business giants such as MasterCard and PayPal in retaliation for their perceived betrayal of the popular freedom of information site, WikiLeaks. The attacks were successful in rendering the entire MasterCard website inaccessible for several hours, while disabling only some of the PayPal pages. Read the full news article here.

While DoS attacks are a tangible threat, they are not the only weapon in the hacker arsenal. One of the most prolific causes behind which hacktivists rally is the belief in the fundamental right to freedom of information; battling against censorship and often advocating software piracy. In this modern, digital age, information is one of the most valuable (and most often stolen) commodities around, and hacktivists who seek to use data-mining software to disseminate sensitive or classified information to the public are a significant risk to businesses and organizations.

One of the best ways that a company or organization may protect against hackers and unauthorized access of its sensitive data is through the use of encryption. Internet security programs like Symantec PGP use a combination of hashing, data compression and cryptography to provide encryption, decryption and authentication for data access and communications, making nearly impossible for unauthorized users to access digital information.

While Symantec is a spectacular tool for corporate customers, it might prove unnecessarily complex for smaller businesses or individual home-users who want to protect themselves, but don’t necessarily need all of the advanced features. For smaller-scale consumers who desire exceptional protection from hackers and the like, one option could be the up-and-coming contender in the internet security ring: Bullguard Internet Security.

No matter your personal politics, or whether you believe that hacktivists are digital-age freedom fighters or vengeful cyber-terrorists, one thing that is certain is that hackers in general are a threat to personal and financial security which cannot be ignored. The best way to protect yourself and your personal information is to ensure that -just like your home or business- the doors to your computers and networks are locked tightly, and the only ones who can open them are those to whom you give the key.

Symantec and Bullguard, along with tons of other great deals on discount software, can be found on Softwaremedia.com. Head on over and check it out!

BullGuard Internet Security – the Next Norton?

Justin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:00:30 +0000

A rising star is emerging from the ever-growing pile of antivirus internet security software: BullGuard. BullGuard Internet Security isn’t your typical home and office computer protector though; their motto is “keep it simple.” This goes for how the internet security suite functions as well as how users interact with it. However, the thing that’s turning the heads of industry experts everywhere is how it maintains such a low profile and impact on system resources, while still performing at the level of big names like Norton and AVG.

Founded in 2002, BullGuard came about from internet security professionals Morten Lund and Thesis Sondergaard, who were in the business of creating antivirus solutions for both business and individual use. Version one of BullGuard was released in June of 2002 and by the following spring, more than 3 million users had installed the security software. Today, BullGuard computer internet security continues to build a large audience and boasts over 16 million downloads of its software yearly. Third-party research company Top Ten Reviews has compiled their list of “Best Internet Security Suites Software for 2011” and BullGuard comes in at number nine. This list contains security software giants like BitDefender, Kaspersky, AVG, and Norton. Pretty impressive for a small start-up.

BullGuard Internet Security 10 is the current release of their award-winning software. Version 10 has been given a makeover and boasts improved performance, while still being one of the lightest-weight internet security suites on the market. It even comes with 5 GB of online backup storage to ensure your most important files, music, and pictures are safe and sound. BullGuard, you’ve got our vote. Keep it up.

PS – For a limited time, we’re offering a special “Save 10% on BullGuard 10” to celebrate the release of BullGuard Internet Security 10. Head over to SoftwareMedia.com to learn more. Hurry, the offer is only good through the end of May and while supplies last.