Social networks and Web 2.0 services have become one of the most valuable channels of disseminating malware during the last six months. Malware authors usually rely on worldwide events and popular showbiz names to entice unwary users into downloading and running malware. The FIFA World Cup and the massive floods in Guatemala have been only two of the many events used for Black-Hat SEO optimization to improve the ranking of various malware-serving websites.

Trojan.AutorunInf.Gen is world’s number one enemy for the January – June 2010 timeframe. It accounts for 11,26 percent of the worldwide malware infections. The autorun technique is massively used by worm writers as an alternate method of spreading their creations via mapped network drives or removable USB / SD / CF media. Some of the most notorious families of malware using the Windows Autorun feature are Downadup, Palevo.

Instant messaging worms have taken the malware game to a whole new level. Worm.P2P.Palevo.DP hit unprotected Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger users in early May 2010. The aggressively-spreading worm came with a bot component as payload, which was able to spam the worm further, as well as to download various pieces of malware on the breached machine. One week later, Backdoor.Tofsee slammed both Skype and Yahoo Messenger users: this highly complex piece of malware featured a rootkit component to protect its code against removal and analysis.

File infectors have made a comeback with upgraded viral mechanisms. Late January saw the emergence of Win32.Worm.Zimuse.A, a deadly combination of virus, rootkit and worm. Upon infection, the worm would start counting down the days. 40 days from the infection, it would overwrite the hard disk drive’s Master Boot Record, thus rendering the OS unable to boot.

Rogue antivirus software has been equipped with extra features aimed at forcing users into purchasing the useless applications. For instance, newer breeds of Rogue AV would seize complete control over the users’ computer by limiting their access to some of the applications installed locally (ransomware behavior), or by sending significant amounts of data to their home base.

Phishing messages now account for only one percent of the worldwide spam – way down from the 7 percent witnessed during the last half of 2009.

Every day, computer users are subject to new and increasingly aggressive e-threats exploiting both breaches in commercial software – as in the case of 0-day exploits – and users’ trust in their friends on social networks, forums or other public spaces on the web.

BitDefender’s new product lineup not only that offers enhanced, industry-awarded proactive protection, but also trims down on resource consumption. The BitDefender 2010 suite is especially tailored to suit different computer usage scenarios, from PCs functioning mostly off-line or in a secure LAN to systems that are permanently connected to the Internet.

 
Three Products to Choose From

BitDefender’s next-generation security solution comes in three flavors, each of which is designed to meet specific computer use standards.  The BitDefender Antivirus 2010 is mostly suitable for computer users who perform day-to-day tasks such as e-mailing, file downloading and instant messaging. The new product features a re-designed -time scanner for web, e-mail and instant messaging traffic to proactively protect the user against both known and unknown security threats.

Built on an award-winning scanning engine, the BitDefender Antivirus 2010 security solution also features advanced encryption for all the Instant Messenger conversations and a brand-new laptop mode. When the laptop is running on battery power, the application automatically adjusts its settings in order to increase the battery lifespan.

Gamers will find it much easier to enjoy their online gaming titles, as the product comes equipped with a state-of-the art game mode, which automatically detects the running application, opens the necessary ports and stops asking for user interaction during the session.

The more feature-rich BitDefender Internet Security 2010 offers proactive protection for users who make heavy use of the Internet. Building on the features implemented in BitDefender Antivirus 2010, the Internet Security 2010 suite offers the user the possibility of storing sensitive data online to secure it against incidents like computer theft or hard drive failure. The File Vault is a local secure storage space  for sensitive files and critical personal information. The Vault automatically encrypts file using on-on-the fly, military-grade algorithms.

 BitDefender Internet Security 2010 minimizes the amount of time users have to spend configuring the product by intelligently detecting the optimal settings for a specific environment. More than that, the antimalware security suite allows network administrators to remotely configure BitDefender software from other computers on the network, while tasks such as scans, backups tune-ups and updates can be run on-demand or scheduled to run during off-hours.

BitDefender Total Security 2010, the company’s flagship product has been designed for users who rely on the Internet as their primary source of communication, along with online shopping and e-banking operations. It comes with advanced privacy protection services, a brand-new heuristics module as well as tune-up and maintenance for your computer.

The product also monitors other applications, whose vulnerabilities might pose a risk to your computer’s security. Total Security 2010 monitors the operating system and common applications for possible vulnerabilities, initiating the update of known vulnerable applications or taking other corrective actions as needed.

Apart from BitDefender’s conventional scanners, the 2010 series of products include and additional technology called Active Virus Control, that adds an extra layer of safety even when dealing with previously unknown malware. This technology monitors all the running programs and assigns a score for every action that might pose a threat to the user. When the score reaches a specific threshold, BitDefender automatically terminates the suspicious application’s process before any harm is inflicted.
 

Let the Antivirus Decide

Computer users have been prompted for the right action for decades, a computer “habit” which is not only annoying, but also a waste users’ time. The new heuristics module can recognize malicious applications by analyzing the way they interact with the operating system. When an application tries to tamper with system files or certain regions of the Windows Registry, BitDefender automatically blocks it and protects the integrity of the system.

Applications that require access to the Internet are automatically granted access based on their legitimacy, thus paring the user of extra work to identify such applications.

For more information regarding BitDefender’s newest security line-up, please visit the company’s official website at http://www.bitdefenderme.com