Worm.com

I have been bombarded with questions about AVG’s free anti-virus program, which periodically expires in an effort to sell the commercial (nonfree version) to unsuspecting consumers.

This happened about a year and a half ago, when version 7.1 “expired” and was replaced with version 7.5. AVG’s manufacturer, the Czech company Grisoft, didn’t make it widely known that a free version still existed. Now, here we are again. On May 31, many users of version 7.5 got a notice to “please upgrade now.” Clicking on it brought up links to AVG Security 8.0, which costs $55 and includes a firewall, anti-spyware and other stuff not included in the free product.

I certainly don’t begrudge AVG’s efforts to sell product, considering it has been giving away anti-virus to home users. However, hiding the free product is disingenuous, at best. The company should be up-front. It should either offer a choice or offer the upgrade for downloading.

Even when you visit the company’s home page (www.free.grisoft.com), the free download is hard to locate, which is an odd strategy. It is almost as if Grisoft, which once was proud to offer the free product to home users, is hoping you stumble into a purchase.

In my opinion, it should not take five clicks to get to the free product. In the process, the company further confuses consumers by putting only some of the correct links in boldface type. It’s pretty smarmy.

Overall, I am conflicted. On one hand, the anti-virus is free. On the other hand, the company has made it hard to find and use.

But I’m not conflicted, just dismayed, by the news that Time- Warner is going to test — and charge for — metered Internet access. According to news reports, the company will begin a trial this week in Beaumont, Texas, charging customers $1 for each gigabyte of content over their plan limits. These range from $30 a month for five GBs and a 768 kbps connection to $55 for 40 GBs and a 15 mpbs connection. The limits apply to both downloads and uploads.

Comcast also is considering limits of 250 GB a month. And these won’t be the last.

The charges are being brought on by a few consumers who use a huge amount of bandwidth by sharing movies and running other peer- to-peer file-sharing services.

Legitimate services such as NetFlix also are going to be affected by these limits.

I am saddened, but I fully understand the frustration of the Internet service providers that are seeing a few users ruin the party for everyone. Time-Warner told news services that 5 percent of customers use half the capacity of local cable lines and that the charge would offset this.

Comcast’s proposed limit of 8.3 gigs a day is perfectly reasonable. Time-Warner’s ridiculous limits will be eliminated by marketplace pressures, I think.

James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and tech columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com.

Copyright C 2008 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

Microsoft Tech.Ed - Sunbelt Software, a leading
provider of Windows security
software , today announced a partnership with Lifeboat Distribution , an
international specialty software distributor for security, application
lifecycle, virtualization and network infrastructure products, to market
and distribute Sunbelt’s antispyware, antivirus, email security and
archiving products to its North American network of security resellers and
solution providers.

“We’re extremely excited to partner with Sunbelt to add their leading
security products to our growing Security World View software ecosystem,”
said Dan Jamieson, vice president and general manager, Lifeboat
Distribution. “Their strength and expertise in the Windows security
software market coupled with their feature-rich and cost-effective
solutions provides excellent business opportunity to our reseller partners,
as they help their customers protect and secure their information systems
and network infrastructure.”

“We see Lifeboat as an extension of our sales force and invaluable towards
expanding and strengthening our channel footprint,” said Debbie Graves,
Director of Sales for Sunbelt Software. “With our existing base of
dedicated resellers, the partnership with Lifeboat enables us and our
partners to maximize opportunities, while providing solutions that help
protect our customers from today’s network security threats.”

The distribution agreement includes Sunbelt’s CounterSpy Enterprise
antispyware software, Ninja Email Security for Microsoft Exchange, Ninja Blade email security
appliances, Sunbelt Exchange Archiver , Sunbelt Network Security
Inspector, and the company’s new high-performance antivirus solution, VIPRE Enterprise , scheduled for
release later this month.

Lifeboat’s Security World View is a best-of-breed software ecosystem that
addresses the complete range of customer information systems security needs
– from policy administration and access control, malicious code
protection, intrusion protection, threat monitoring and management,
encryption and information protection.

To find out more about purchasing Sunbelt Software solutions through
Lifeboat Distribution, visit www.lifeboatdistribution.com or call Lifeboat
toll-free in the U.S. at 1-800-847-7078 or direct worldwide at
732-389-0037.

About Sunbelt Software

Headquartered in Tampa Bay (Clearwater), Fla., Sunbelt Software was founded
in 1994 and is a leading provider of Windows security and management
software with product solutions in the areas of antispam and antivirus,
antispyware, and vulnerability assessment. Leading products include the
CounterSpy product line, Ninja Email Security, Sunbelt Exchange Archiver,
and endpoint firewall technologies. The company is part of Sunbelt
International Group, based in Paris, France.

For more information about Sunbelt Software, please visit the company’s
website at: www.sunbeltsoftware.com . To learn more about current
activities, products, and ideas at Sunbelt Software, please visit Sunbelt’s
corporate blog at www.sunbeltblog.com

About Lifeboat Distribution

Lifeboat Distribution, a subsidiary of Wayside Technology Group, Inc.
(NASDAQ: WSTG), is an international specialty software distributor for
virtualization, security, application and network infrastructure, business
continuity/disaster recovery, database infrastructure and management,
application lifecycle management, science/engineering, and other
technically sophisticated products. The company helps software publishers
recruit and build multinational solution provider networks, power their
networks, and drive incremental sales revenues that complement existing
sales channels.

Copyright © 2008 Sunbelt Software. All rights reserved. All trademarks used
are owned by their respective companies.

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Contact:
Laurie Murrell
Sunbelt Software
727-562-0101
Email Contact

S&S Public Relations for Sunbelt Software
Kristin Miller
719-634-8292
Email Contact

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

Fortinet® — the pioneer and leading
provider of unified threat management (UTM) solutions — today announced
that its FortiGuard® Global Security Research Team has discovered a
parameter injection vulnerability in the Akamai Download Manager. The
vulnerability, which is protected by Fortinet’s intrusion prevention system
(IPS), allows a remote file to be transferred to an arbitrary location on
an end user’s system through Akamai’s ActiveX control. An attacker who
successfully penetrates this vulnerability can then run arbitrary code on
the user’s system and potentially exploit it for financial gain.

“Cyber criminals are becoming ever more sophisticated in the methods they
use for obtaining personal information for malicious intent,” said Derek
Manky, security researcher for Fortinet. “Exploits have the potential to be
especially harmful, as when executed correctly, a malicious file could be
downloaded in a ‘drive-by’ nature without user interaction.”

Customers who subscribe to Fortinet’s IPS service are already protected
against this parameter injection attack. Users are encouraged to follow the
solution provided by Akamai at
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/493077/30/0/threaded . The FortiGuard
Global Security Research Team has released a signature
“Akamai.Download.Manager.ActiveX.Insecure.Parameter”
( http://www.fortiguardcenter.com/ids/VID15566 ) on April 23rd, 2008, which
covers this specific vulnerability. Additional information on this advisory
can be found at http://www.fortiguardcenter.com/advisory/FGA-2008-13.html .

Fortinet’s IPS service is one component of FortiGuard Subscription
Services, which also offer comprehensive solutions such as antivirus, Web
content filtering and antispam. These services enable protection against
threats on both application and network layers. FortiGuard Services are
regularly updated by the FortiGuard Global Security Research Team, which
enables Fortinet to deliver a combination of multi-layered security
intelligence and true zero-day protection from new and emerging threats.
These updates are delivered to all FortiGate®, FortiMail(TM) and
FortiClient(TM) products. Fortinet strictly follows responsible disclosure
guidelines to ensure optimum protection during a threat’s lifecycle.

For ongoing threat research, bookmark the FortiGuard Center
( http://www.fortiguardcenter.com/ ) or add it to your RSS feed by going to
http://www.fortinet.com/FortiGuardCenter/rss/index.html . To learn more
about FortiGuard Subscription Services, visit
http://www.fortinet.com/products/fortiguard.html .

About Fortinet ( www.fortinet.com )

Fortinet is the pioneer and leading provider of ASIC-accelerated unified
threat management, or UTM, security systems, which are used by enterprises
and service providers to increase their security while reducing total
operating costs. Fortinet solutions were built from the ground up to
integrate multiple levels of security protection — including firewall,
antivirus, intrusion prevention, VPN, spyware prevention and anti-spam –
designed to help customers protect against network and content level
threats. Leveraging a custom ASIC and unified interface, Fortinet solutions
offer advanced security functionality that scales from remote office to
chassis-based solutions with integrated management and reporting. Fortinet
solutions have won multiple awards around the world and are the only
security products that are certified in seven programs by ICSA Labs:
firewall, antivirus, IPSec, SSL, network IPS and anti-Spyware. Fortinet is
privately held and based in Sunnyvale, California.

Copyright © 2008 Fortinet, Inc. All rights reserved. Fortinet is a
registered trademark of Fortinet, Inc. FortiGate, FortiOS, FortiAnalyzer,
FortiASIC, FortiCare, FortiManager, FortiWiFi, FortiGuard, FortiClient,
FortiReporter and other names are trademarks of Fortinet, Inc. in the
United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks referred to
herein are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact
Kim Nguyen
Fortinet, Inc.
+1 408 486 5458
knguyen@fortinet.com

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

Consumer Desktop Solution Disables Malware and Enables Secure Financial Transactions Online

PALM BEACH GARGENS, Fla. — Authentium today announced that a recent test of its SafeCentral secure Web browsing solution by Information Risk Management (IRM), an independent information risk consultancy, concluded that SafeCentral effectively stops online identity theft before it starts. The report verified that SafeCentral provides users with a more secure method of executing online transactions by disabling malware and preventing hackers from stealing data such as names, social security numbers and PIN numbers, or redirecting sessions to a rogue Web site.

According to the IRM Report, "In all scenarios… SafeCentral provided a secure browsing session even if the user’s machine had been infected with malware. None of the key-loggers or screen scrapers managed to intercept keystrokes or gain an interactive feed of the user’s desktop while the service had been activated. DNS tests confirmed that users of SafeCentral were always presented with genuine Web sites."

IRM consultants tested SafeCentral’s consumer desktop protection by infecting unprotected laboratory PCs with representative samples of key-loggers, screen-scrapers, and DNS intercept malware, downloading SafeCentral’s desktop protection solution and using the infected PCs to conduct Web transactions. In all cases, SafeCentral’s desktop solution disabled the malware that resided on the PC and enabled transactions to be conducted safely.

IRM also conducted a series of Domain Name Service (DNS) tests to determine whether DNS poisoning or intercept malware could re-direct the infected PCs to a different destination from the user’s intended URL. Further demonstrating the power of SafeCentral, the DNS re-direct attempts were rendered inoperable. These tests established that SafeCentral provides a secure, private channel between the desktop and the Web destination, where users can conduct transactions without the fear of identity theft.

"Given the gravity of cybercrime today, it’s no surprise that multiple vendors are coming out of the woodwork with products that claim to protect end users against online identity theft," says Doug Brunt, President and CEO of Authentium. "Unfortunately for consumers, many of these other product claims are simply false. Consumers need only Google our competitors’ brand names to find reviews by journalists and independent laboratories that highlight these products’ shortcomings. In contrast, Authentium’s SafeCentral lives up to its claim of online identity protection, as demonstrated by IRM’s recent tests."

SafeCentral uses Authentium’s patent-pending TSX technology to create a virtual "concrete bunker" that safeguards consumers from trickiest and nastiest techniques employed by online identity thieves. These threats include viruses, spyware, Trojans, drive-by-downloads, key-loggers, screen-scrapers, DNS poisoning, man-in-the-middle attacks, Wi-Fi interception, and countless other techniques, all designed to steal a user’s personal identity information. The access control provided by TSX makes SafeCentral the only service that stops Internet threats past, present, and future, without requiring constant and manual updates, time-consuming file scanning, or real-time monitoring that wastes memory and slows computers.

"Banks are painfully aware of the threat posed by identity thieves who have adopted tactics that take advantage of the weakest link in the security chain: the user, and his PC," says Brunt. "As demonstrated by IRM’s tests, SafeCentral provides an end-to-end security link that compliments the initiatives being implemented by banks to protect their networks, and finally addresses the scourge of desktop spyware and DNS attacks. We’ll be working together with many of the nation’s largest banks, merchants and trading sites in the coming months to quell the growing threat of internet identity theft."

IRM’s full report, commentary from Authentium executives, and demos of SafeCentral, are available upon request. Please contact Meredith Glanzmann, Gregory FCA, at 610-642-8253, ext. 112 or Meredith@GregoryFCA.com. SafeCentral is available for download now at www.SafeCentral.com.

ABOUT AUTHENTIUM, INC.

Authentium develops software and services to protect consumers in a connected world. The company’s core technologies (SDK’s) are used by leading software providers including Google, Microsoft, and Symantec to create or enhance industry-leading computing security products. Additionally, Authentium’s same core security expertise is also expressed in the continued development of Command Antivirus, the award winning Antivirus product from Authentium. The company was incorporated in 2000, and is located in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. For more information visit www.Authentium.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

Team Oreca-Matmut has announced a late change to its driver line-up for the Le Mans 24 Hours after Nicolas Lapierre was forced to give up his place in the team.

The former GP2 race winner was due to share the #6 Courage with countrymen Olivier Panis and Simon Pagenaud but has been sidelined by a virus that also forced him to miss last weeks test day at La Sarthe.

Having failed to fully recover, the team will now bring in test driver Marcel Fassler to fill the void as he prepares to make his return to the famous …

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

NEW YORK (AFP) — One in four adults living in New York City has the virus that causes genital herpes, and among African-Americans the rate is almost 50 percent, official statistics show.

The sexually transmitted herpes simplex virus Type 2 is more prevalent in New York City, at 26 percent, than nationally, where 19 percent of adults, roughly one in five, are infected.

Far more women than men have the virus, 36 percent compared to 19, in the city mythologized in the television-turned-movie megahit “Sex in the City.”

The study by New York City Department of Health also reveals that herpes is far more common …

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

Proofpoint Automatically Detects Social Security Numbers and Account Numbers, Aids in Compliance with Email-related Privacy Regulations

SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 10 /PRNewswire/ — Proofpoint, Inc., the leading provider of unified email security and data loss prevention solutions, today announced that South Dakota Library Network has deployed the Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway(TM) appliance to prevent leaks of confidential information in outbound email messages and to protect its email users from incoming spam and viruses.

South Dakota Library Network provides an electronic information system for state residents and library staff to easily access and share resources from all of South Dakota’s libraries. With over 200,000 registered users of the system, South Dakota Library Network required a messaging security solution that could automatically secure sensitive information, such as social security numbers, as well as defend against inbound messaging threats such as spam and viruses.

While evaluating email security and data loss prevention products, South Dakota Library Network was immediately impressed with the effectiveness of the Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway, both in terms of detecting non-public and sensitive information in outbound email, as well as stopping unwanted incoming spam messages. The Proofpoint Secure Messaging(TM) module, which automatically encrypts emails based on an organization’s customizable policies, and the Proofpoint Regulatory Compliance(TM) module were also big selling points for South Dakota Library Network, helping them comply with a growing number of privacy regulations that require the secure the transmission of confidential information.

"The Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway has worked exactly as we’ve needed it to, eliminating all types of spam messages and detecting a wide variety confidential information with very high accuracy," said Sean Crooks, systems administrator with South Dakota Library Network. "As an added bonus, the appliance truly runs itself, requiring less than an hour of my time per week for administration."

In addition to the Proofpoint Spam Detection(TM) module, South Dakota Library Network has deployed Proofpoint Virus Protection(TM) for up-to-date protection against all types of viruses, worms and other malware. Proofpoint’s anti-virus module is fully integrated into Proofpoint’s message processing platform, providing complete control and ease of management via a centralized Web-based interface.

"Policy-based encryption allows organizations to mitigate a wide variety of risks associated with regulatory violations, data loss and corporate policy violations, making it a ‘must have’ feature for today’s email security solutions" said Sandra Vaughan, senior vice president of products and marketing for Proofpoint. "Proofpoint Secure Messaging makes it easy for organizations of any size to deploy powerful, easy-to-use encryption capabilities that automatically encrypt outgoing email as needed, without requiring end-users to take any special action."

To learn more about Proofpoint’s email encryption and data loss prevention solutions, please join us for a live web seminar, "Using Email Encryption to Meet HIPAA Requirements: Case Studies" on June 24, 2008. To register, please visit:

  http://www.proofpoint.com/id/healthcarewebinar062408/index.php

  About Proofpoint, Inc.

Proofpoint provides unified email security and data loss prevention solutions for enterprises, universities, government organizations and ISPs to defend against inbound threats such as spam and viruses, prevent leaks of confidential and private information across all protocols, and encrypt sensitive emails. Proofpoint’s products are controlled by a single management and policy console and are powered by Proofpoint MLX(TM) technology, an advanced machine learning system developed by Proofpoint scientists and engineers. Proofpoint provides the most scalable and flexible deployment model including: hardware appliance, virtual appliance, hosted services and software. For more information, please visit http://www.proofpoint.com/.

Proofpoint, Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway, Proofpoint Secure

Messaging, Proofpoint Regulatory Compliance, Proofpoint Spam Detection and Proofpoint Virus Protection are trademarks, registered trademarks or licensed

trademarks of Proofpoint, Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the

property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Abby Dougherty of Davies Murphy Group, Inc., +1-781-418-2427, pr@proofpoint.com

Web site: http://www.proofpoint.com/

COPYRIGHT 2008 PR Newswire Association LLC
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

Information provided by: Findarticles.com

Version 3.5 Enables High Performance, Multi-Stage Filtering to Counter Spam Attacks

SAN MATEO, California, June 10 /PRNewswire/ — Bizanga, the global company behind the most scalable and full-featured email and message processing platform, today announced the release of version 3.5 of its platform, the Intelligent Message Processor(R) (IMP).

With version 3.5 of the IMP, Bizanga introduces another market first - true, multi-stage spam filtering for large networks. Now for the first time ever, filtering rules at the network, protocol and application layers can be fully integrated and managed in a single, high performance platform. By melding the layers together, the data that’s derived at one layer can be applied real-time to others for more comprehensive and responsive spam protection, simplified administration and improved user experience.

Multi-stage filtering has fully been integrated into Bizanga’s IMP platform and optimized for continued high performance, scalability and reliability. Combined with the services of its application partners, it further reinfor