Lavasoft Releases Dual-Engine Ad-Aware Total Security

Lavasoft has just announced the release of new versions for its award-winning, Ad-Aware suite. Several modifications are to be mentioned as the company no longer treads the previous path.
Ad-Aware protection bunch comes in three different flavors, with the freebie leading the way, closely followed by the two paid editions. This time around, the freebie includes full antivirus protection: “Here at Lavasoft, it’s part of our founding principle that all computer users must have the power to protect themselves online. By continuing to offer the Ad-Aware Free version and now adding anti-virus protection, we are ensuring that our users throughout the world have a one-stop product that delivers core malware protection: anti-spyware, anti-virus and anti-rootkit,” says Johnny Widerlund, Senior Technologies Director at Lavasoft.
The Plus version has been replaced by a different suite, Ad-Aware Total Security, a complete set of tools bent on offering your system not just the best security against malware.
For increased protection against malware, Lavasoft select GData as their technology partner for Ad-Aware Total Security. Thus, the tool relies on two antivirus engines, which can work in tandem or separately. Among highlights of the bundle are easy-to-configure personal firewall, rootkit removal system, anti-spam protection, webmail protection, as well as protection against phishing attacks. Ad-Aware Total Security includes special features including parental control, backup and system tuning functions.
Ad-Aware Total Security also offers a comfortable file shredder designed to securely remove your data, in a manner that prevents its recovery. A simple drag and drop of the item on the file shredder desktop icon is enough to get rid of it.
The prices set by Lavasoft for the two products are $29.95 for a one-year single user subscription for Ad-Aware Pro, while Ad-Aware Total Security sells for $49.95. The difference between the two is pretty steep, the Ad-Aware Total Security representing a new turn in Lavasoft’s security products.

Kaspersky Lab Predicts Malware Epidemics

Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management solutions, has successfully patented technology in the USA that allocates the potential scale of malware epidemics to be accurately predicted in order to prevent them from spreading.
"The patented technology works by examining statistical data about threats received from a global monitoring network.
Emerging epidemics can be recognized by the number of incidents occurring during a specific period in one location or another. It makes it possible to pinpoint the source of an epidemic and forecast its likely propagation pattern.
Protective measures can then be implemented by countries in the path of the epidemic. This slows the proliferation rate considerably and offers effective damage limitation, according to chief intellectual property counsel Kaspersky Lab.
The technology has a number of advantages over other similar systems, including the ability to trace the source of the threat, generate protective measure and simulate the spread of an epidemic, she said.
Today's malware has the capacity to spread in millions of computers infected in an instant as an epidemic sweeps across the Internet. This can take down huge swathes of infrastructure, bringing information highways to a standstill and leaving systems vulnerable to data leakage which in turn opens the door to large scale fraud. Detecting malware on computer that is infected during an epidemic has little or no effect. What is needed is a reliable method for estimating the potential scale and direction of an epidemic, an early warning system, and that is exactly what the new technology developed by Kaspersky Lab's Yury Mashevsky, Yury Namestnikov, Nikolay Denishchenko and Pavel Zelensky, is capable of doing. The technology was granted Patent No. 7743419 by the US Patent and Trademark Office on 22 June, 2010.
Kaspersky Lab currently has more than 50 patent applications pending in the USA, Russia, China and Europe. These relate to a unique information security technologies developed by the Company's personnel.

Registry Cleaner Vs Anti Spyware Programs

Most people simply assume that having the occasional anti-virus scan is more than enough. Is that alone really enough? You need a registry cleaner more than you need an anti virus software. If you frequently go online, then you will also be needing an anti spyware, adware program. Both, a Registry Cleaner and an Anti-Spyware Program are necessary to combat registry errors and ensure optimal performance of your computer system. The differences between Registry Cleaners and Anti-Spyware programs are briefly detailed below.

1. Like Registry Cleaners, Anti Spyware programs are made to specifically detect applications that cause unwanted symptoms to prevail on your system. However, these programs are designed specifically to recognize malicious code and are updated frequently as new spyware programs are identified and antidotes are created. Such activity may include but is not limited to the following:
* Unauthorized users, or Hackers, gaining access to your computer.
Malicious programs, called Trojans, inadvertently installed on your computer and often disguised in your computer registry as benign files, can allow users to gain remote access to your computer. Once the Trojan is in place, sensitive data on your computer is accessible to prying eyes that are free to search your computer at will for confidential information such as passwords, access codes for credit card and bank accounts, social security number etc. A registry cleaner may not recognize these cleverly disguised files and will allow them to remain in the registry.
* Frequent Nuisance Pop ups and advertisements.
Trojans can be programmed to allow third party advertisements to pop up in your browser window whenever it detects an internet connection. This means that if you have a broadband or DSL connection that is “always on” you can be overwhelmed by these popups. Trojan Vundo is one such form of malicious program. Then confronted by a Trojan such as Vundo, you must use a specialized Trojan remover that is continually updated to keep the database of mutated Trojans current. A registry cleaner may not recognize and remove virus.

2. Unlike Antispyware programs that are designed to prevent attack from and remove malicious programs from your computer registry, Registry Cleaner programs are used to tune up your computer registry so that unneeded or obsolete files are removed from your computer.
* Speed Restoration
As we use our computers and get comfortable with them, they become an extension of ourselves. We tend to install toolbars, games, start up programs and the latest gadgets available to make our time spent enjoyable or easier. Overtime, those added programs get replaced or are no longer used and these unnecessary programs slow our computers down because even though we’re not using them, they can load in the background and siphon off precious CPU resources. A Registry Cleaner will run a registry scan and identify files that are no longer needed, allowing you to easily remove them resulting in an increase in processor speed.
* Repairing a corrupt computer registry
Occasionally, you may accidental delete a file resulting in an error message every time you turn on your computer. When some of your files go missing, a registry cleaner can help solve the problem. Rather than figure out what “windows.dll is missing” means… execute and run a registry cleaner program, then reboot your PC. The registry cleaner will restore your missing files and identify the correct ones to remove.

After a brief comparison of Registry Cleaners and Anti Spyware, I hope you agree that both are necessary to ensure optimal performance of your computer system. Stay connected to this site for registry cleaner reviews in the coming days and you will be armed with the tools necessary to chose the right registry cleaner for you.

Speedup Slow Startup Times in Windows 7

On a system with one- to two-year-old hardware, Windows 7 usually takes only 20 to 40 seconds to boot up. Even the performance-wise challenged netbooks rarely need more than a minute to be ready for work! Certainly, boot times vary significantly from one computer to another. This is nothing new. But if Windows 7 clients need way longer – and we’re talking way over one or two minutes – then you’re looking at a resource hog.

So what could be causing the problem?

1. You just installed a new driver, which hasn’t been WHQL-certified and delays the boot up process. It could be a simple driver bug!
2. You installed a piece of resource-intense software that initializes a process or a service during startup.
3. You updated existing software or Windows 7 itself. Yes, it’s not unheard of that some updates cause a significant boot delay.

Speed Up a Slow Windows Computer

Are you constantly waiting for you computer to respond. Have you decided that it’s just time you go out and get a new computer? Before this, there is a easier and much cheaper option that can give you the same results.

Some people will tell you that in order to get back the performance on your computer you need to upgrade the memory in it. Sounds good, but unless you know what type of memory to get let alone know how to install it properly that bit of information won’t help you out much.

Spyware, malware and viruses can also slow down your systems performance. Even though these little nasty’s can sneak onto your computer at any time, most people are well aware of the mess they can cause on your computer. Most people these days have at least one if not more antivirus programs that protect them as long as they keep them up to date and run them on a regular schedule. but even these are no guarantee.

The problem with most slow computers is actually the registry file. Because the registry plays such an important role in the operation of a computer, keeping track of the location of every file and setting your computer has, it means that if some of those entries become corrupt from every day use that they can lead to serious issues when it comes to performance. Over time the problem can become so bad your PC will just crash on you with a blue screen error all the time.

This is why having a registry cleaner is so necessary. It’s not strange the first time you run the program to find thousands of errors in your registry. And even if you do clean them run the program again either later that day or the next day. There may be even more errors that have popped up that were either missed the first time or new errors that popped up.

Technique to remove HTTPS Tidserv Request

Introduction about Tidserv Trojan

“HTTPS Tidserv Request” or “HTTPS Tidserv Request 2”is a mark which detects your antivirus. It indicates that your computer is infected with a Tidserv trojan. Tidserv (TDSS) trojan fix onto your computer through a vulnerabilities in an already installed applications (mostly in InternetExplorer, Java and Adobe Acrobat reader) or with the help of a rogue antispyware programs. This trojan is very dangerous and uses rootkit-specific techniques designed to hide the program presence in the system.

When installed, Tidserv trojan creates a hidden driver and hidden service to run automatically when Windows loads. While is running, the trojan can hijack Internet Explorer, redirect search results in Google, Yahoo, MSN to non related sites, block most of antivirus and antispyware programs from running, block an access to security websites, disable Windows Task Manager, Windows Security Center and Registry editor, and much more.

Steps to remove Tidserv Trojan

1. Download TDSSKiller by Kaspersky Antivirus Lab and unzip to your desktop.
2. Open TDSSKiller folder. Right click to tdsskiller and select rename. Type a new name (123myapp, for example). Press Enter. Double click the TDSSKiller icon to start scanning Windows registry for TDSS trojan.
3. When TDSSKiller will prompt you to press “Y”, type Y and press Enter. Your computer will be rebooted.
4. Download MalwareBytes Anti-malware (MBAM). Once downloaded, close all programs and windows on your computer.
5. Double-click on the icon on your desktop named mbam-setup.exe. This will start the installation of MalwareBytes Anti-malware onto your computer. When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the installation process. Do not make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing, make sure a checkmark is placed next to “Update Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware” and Launch “Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware”. Then click Finish.
6. MalwareBytes Anti-malware will now automatically start and you will see a message stating that you should update the program before performing a scan. If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.
7. As MalwareBytes Anti-malware will automatically update itself after the install, you can press the OK button to close that box and you will now be at the main menu.
8. Make sure the “Perform quick scan” option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for Tidserv (TDSS) trojan. This procedure can take some time, so please be patient.
9. When the scan is finished a message box will appear that it has completed scanning successfully. Click OK. Now click “Show Results”. You will see a list of infected items similar as shown below.
10. Make sure all entries have a checkmark at their far left and click “Remove Selected” button to remove Tidserv (TDSS) trojan. MalwareBytes Anti-malware will now remove all of associated Tidserv (TDSS) trojan files and registry keys and add them to the programs’ quarantine. When MalwareBytes Anti-malware has finished removing the infection, a log will open in Notepad and you may be prompted to Restart.

After this Tidserv Trojan will be permanently remove from computer.

Rouge Antivirus imitates BitDefender

BitDefender has recently found a new rogue antivirus software that was tricking users by installing it and posing as a BitDefender PC security product. Moreover the name wasd ByteDefender quite similar to BitDefender, this malicious software acts like a fully-fledged rogue antivirus with a twist.

Unlike other rogue antivirus applications, the ByteDefender sibling does not rely on the classic drive-by method used by most products of its kind, but rather allied on the popularity of the BitDefender products and their distinct visual identity to lure users into voluntarily downloading it. The website distributing it is located at hxxp://www.bytedefender.in (URL specifically invalidated to avoid accidental infection) and abusively built using the BitDefender layout. The domain name has been registered in Ukraine. Even the boxshots have been crafted in such a manner to trick the user into thinking that they are installing the genuine security product.
The infection scenario is simple, yet efficient: the user searching for a BitDefender software type genuine address and he/she might gets redirected to the malicious software’s webpage. As they have web page similar to webpage structure of original website, the user might download and install this rogue antivirus.
Once installed in the copmuter, this piece of scareware would start showing fake infection alerts in an attempt to pursue the user to purchase the “full version” and get rid of the mentioned fake threats.
Interesting enough, the payment processor for the ByteDefender Rogue antivirus is the trustworthy company Plimus, who has suspended sales on grounds of user abuse.

“Cyber-criminals have no boundaries when it comes to distributing and marketing their rogue computer security software. Sensational events, Trojanized applications or websites and watchfully forged –moreover they are useless – ‘security products’ are only a few of the multitude of methods to capitalize on unwary users”, said Catalin Cosoi, senior Researcher at BitDefender Company.