anti-malware

New ZoneAlarm antivirus-firewall combo competes for free

ZoneAlarm is making an aggressive move to attract new people to its line of security programs with what may be a first: a free antivirus program pre-packaged with a free firewall.

Available exclusively from Download.com today, ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus+Firewall 2013 (download) could very well make big waves in the free security-suite space. It's the same free firewall that ZoneAlarm has produced for years, but with basic antivirus and anti-malware tools included. It's basically ZoneAlarm Pro Antivirus+Firewall from last year, with an updated engine. And did I mention that it's free?

The free security suite … Read more

Avast ports Windows shields to Mac

Avast will introduce the latest version of its Mac security suite as early as tomorrow, just a few weeks after Flashback, the third major OS X security scare in a year.

The company touts an unblemished record of blocking the virulent malware as evidence that its suite is a must-have.

Currently available from Download.com in beta, Avast Free Antivirus 7 for Mac (download) brings to the Mac several features that have made the Windows version one of the best free security suites. Along with an up-to-date version of the Avast antivirus and anti-malware engine and a redone interface, it … Read more

AVG now blocks tracking ads, monitors Wi-Fi connections

Two new features designed to protect your privacy while you browse the Web and guard you against misleading SSIDs come to all three AVG suites in a service pack update.

The Service Pack 1 update for AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012, AVG Anti-Virus 2012, and AVG Internet Security 2012 are available exclusively today from Download.com.

Both of the new features are available to free and paid users, but the tracking ad blocker called AVG Do-Not-Track is the big one. It works similarly to Do Not Track Plus. While the toolbar is an optional browser add-on, AVG Do-Not-Track appears to be … Read more

Android antivirus apps improve their grades--just not very much

A redo of an AV-Test.org report that originally found fewer than 50 percent of Android antivirus apps effective at stopping mobile threats now grades six apps higher than before. Unfortunately, that's not much of an improvement.

In an update published earlier this week, AV-Test.org CEO Andreas Marx explained that "certain parts in our initial report and the testing methodology [were] considered imprecise and/or flawed by third parties." The revised rankings now list 23 effective apps in 41 tested, or 56 percent. That's up from 17 of 41 in the previous rankings.

Because of … Read more

Editors' Choice awards for 2012 security suites

After long deliberation, CNET has awarded the top two 2012 security suites Editors' Choice awards.

In the paid suite category, we decided on Bitdefender Total Security 2012 (download) for its top-rated security, its low impact on your computer's performance, and its excellent range of features. Bitdefender started strong out of the gate, and although some came close, notably Norton and F-Secure, Bitdefender posted an impressive set of benchmarks that kept it ahead.

Choosing a top free suite for the 2012 release cycle was even more challenging. After a few years of lackluster updates, popular Avira returned to the fold, … Read more

Don't get faked by Android antivirus apps

Updated Thursday, March 15, 2012, at 5:05 p.m. PDT: After complaints from some security app makers, AV-Test.org has published an updated report that raised scores for some apps.

If you're worried about Android malware, choose wisely. There's a good chance that your trusted security app does little to protect you, says a new report from independent testing organization AV-Test.

In a preview of the study e-mailed yesterday, AV-Test's CEO Andreas Marx revealed that desktop antivirus vendors that have migrated to Android performed the best. Avast, Lookout, Dr. Web, Zoner, F-Secure, Ikarus, and Kaspersky detected … Read more

Avast 2012 examines your file booty

Avast continues to stay on top of the feature game by introducing bombastic top-shelf features to its security suites, while more subtly debuting an alternative source of revenue to the paid upgrade.

Available exclusively from Download.com today, Avast Free Antivirus 2012 (download), Avast Pro Antivirus (download), and Avast Internet Security (download), the Czech security company gives its free users a useful batch of improvements, while keeping the paid upgrades competitive for those who an extra zing. Also worth noting is that Avast has modularized several new security components in an Avast Market.

Avast did not update its Mac or … Read more

Get software for free when you send flowers to your Valentine

We all like getting more bang for your buck and this Valentine's day should be no exception. As a special treat, we've partnered with some of our most popular software developers, so you can get a software for free when you send your loved ones flowers for this Valentine's Day.

Choose from one of the four products below to fulfill your offer and get a software for free:

AVG Anti-Virus 2012 (orig.$39.99):

AVG Anti-Virus 2012 comes with a protective cloud technology that blocks the latest threats while you are surfing, searching and social networking. AVG'… Read more

HotSpot Shield strengthens VPN with anti-malware wall

HotSpot Shield maker AnchorFree has built an extra wall of protection into its popular virtual private network software, available today. The update adds a malware site guard to the VPN client without requiring you to download a new version of the program because the changes have all been made on the server, not on your computer.

With the anti-malware site guard in place, HotSpot Shield will throw up a warning like the one you see in the screenshot above. Available on Windows (download), Mac (download), and iOS (download), the new anti-malware site protection is based off a database of more … Read more