Newegg Offering 11 Windows Security Suites For Free After MIR

For those of you looking to add a little more security to your life, or just wanting to get in on a pretty good deal, Newegg is offering you up 11 different security suites for free after mail in rebates. The best part, almost all are three user licenses so most of you can cover almost your entire PC collection!

Here's the rundown of your options:

• AVG Anti-Virus + PC Tuneup 2012 3-user
• Bitdefender Total Security 2012 3-user
• Bitdefender Internet Security 2012 3-user
• Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 3-user
(also includes SummitSoft SystemTech Advanced for free)
• McAfee Total Protection 2012 3-user
(also includes SummitSoft SystemTech Advanced for free)
• McAfee Internet Security 2012 - 1 User 
• Panda Security Global Protection 2012 3-user
• Total Defense Unlimited Internet Security
• Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security
• TREND MICRO Titanium Maximum Security - 1 User 
• Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete 2012 3-user

All these deals include free shipping, so you're paying only the upfront price and taxes if you live in a taxed state. Then in 4-6weeks you'll be getting a full rebate (minus taxes of course) for that price. Note that the rebates vary from one company to the next; some will send you a check, some a prepaid debit card, and so on. Make sure to read all the fine print and make sure you make copies of any submitted materials. All the rebates come from pretty reliable sources so not much need to worry there!

This deal is part of Newegg's software weekly special and will likely end at the end of the week and it looks like most the software needs to be purchased by 8/2. So if you want to snag them you better get them now!

Microsoft Offers New Portable Anti-Virus Tool

When it comes to your anti-virus software being up to date on the latest virus definitions is extremely important. Occasionally, however even the most up to date computer can be infected. So where do you turn when your AV fails you? Well you might try this new portable scanner from Microsoft (yes I know Microsoft?.)

Microsoft has released its free Microsoft Safety Scanner (MSS). The Microsoft Safety Scanner is a downloadable security tool that provides on-demand scanning and helps remove viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It works outside your existing antivirus software to provide a secondary option in case the first one fails.

According to Microsoft, the scanner can only be run for up to 10 days after the initial download, after which it must be re-downloaded – this ensures that it always has up-to-date signatures.The scan performance is comparable to that of Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0, which from my personal testing has been very much acceptable.

MSS comes in either 32 or 64 bit versions and because the file size is around 64 MB and the fact that MSS does not need to be installed it is ideal for downloading and running from a USB flash drive.

My testing and opinion

I've used several rescue and recovery disks such as those offered by Avira and Kaspersky as well as online scanners. So I was interested in testing the Microsoft tool to see how well it performed.

The first thing I liked about the tool was the small download size. I could install it on just about any USB drive. The interface was rather plain, simple and easy to use with options for quick scan, full scan and a custom option. Unfortunately that was about the only thing I liked.

I figured being a stand-alone application it would have a smaller resource footprint. Sadly that wasn't the case. It utilized a fair amount of CPU resources and memory. In comparison to Microsoft Security Essentials it did use slightly less resources but it still seemed high to me. The other downside was that unlike the rescue CDs there isn't an option to create a stand-alone disk to boot from. This is something that would have been a nice addition.

I didn't have any files to test it on so I can't speak to the accuracy of the tests or the ability of the scanner to detect infections.

Given the 10 day usability feature and hopefully consistent updates from MS it might be a slightly more viable option than a rescue CD, or offer a bit more usability than an online scanner. So I won't completely discard it from my toolkit, but I would like to see a stand-alone boot option.

Sophos Giving Away Free Antivirus Protection For Mac Users

I know the Apple Fanboys out there believe that their Mac's are impervious to many of the threats that face us PC guys. But lets face it folks every day we see more and more viruses written for the Mac platform and a growing number of cross platform attacks that are infecting Mac users just like your average PC user.

Over the past couple of years Apple themselves has even stepped to the plate and suggested that user might need AV protection. A page that has since been removed entitled "Mac OS: Antivirus utilities" suggested that user should look for a good antivirus utility.

"Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult."

Apple then suggested three products Intego VirusBarrier, Symantec Norton Anti-Virus and McAfee VirusScan for Mac all three of which will set their users back as much as $80. Stepping up to the plate is Sophos a well know vendor of security software and hardware, including anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, network access control, encryption software and data loss prevention for desktops.

The company is now offering Mac users a great deal. As Apple has thus far refused to protect its users with free antivirus software, Sophos is launching Sophos Anti-Virus Home Edition for Macs which will protect Mac users against "today’s and tomorrow’s Mac threats".

"While most businesses recognize the importance of protecting their Mac computers from malware threats, most home users do not," said Chris Kraft, product management vice president at Sophos.

"Mac users must remember that less targeted is not the same as invulnerable", Sophos security expert Richard Wang.

The threat is not as prevalent as PC users, with only "one to two" attacks on Macs each week, compared to the "tens of thousands" per day against Windows PCs, said Wang.

According to Wang, attacks against Mac users are mostly delivered via malicious Web sites. Boonana, a Koobface variant, recently made the rounds of Facebook and other social networking sites targeting Mac users. The Boonana-infected site first determined the visitor’s operating system and then delivered malware appropriate for that platform, said Wang.

Read more: Yes, you need anti-virus on your Mac.. and now it's free

Avast Now Offers Antivirus Software With Screen-reader Capability

AVAST Software, providers of the avast! antivirus program, has announced that the latest update to its antivirus application makes computer security fully accessible to the vision-impaired. Using basic screen-reader technology, blind and low-vision computer users can now protect their computers from malware and unwanted viruses with any of the avast! Antivirus 5.0 offerings – avast! Free Antivirus, avast! Pro Antivirus and avast! Internet Security.

The push for this development came from vision-impaired IT geeks who wanted to use avast! Antivirus 5.0. “For the blind, the computer is an absolutely fantastic invention. And for some, it’s even their hobby to adjust it,” said Radek Seifert, work-team leader at the TEREZA Center, a support center for the sight-impaired at the Czech Technical University in Prague.

These volunteers fine-tuned avast! so it worked with JAWS, a leading screen-reader technology. “They said, ‘give us the beta’ so we did,” remembers Ondrej Vlcek, AVAST Chief Technical Officer. “It was also a complicated issue on our side as avast! does not use the standard Windows controls.”

Screen reader software is designed to navigate through a website and read the web content aloud. A screen reader uses a Text-To-Speech (TTS) engine to translate on-screen information into speech, which can then be heard through earphones or speakers. In addition to speech feedback, screen readers are also capable of providing information in Braille. An external hardware device, known as a refreshable Braille display, is needed for this.

“A screen reader can be complicated to adjust – there are many ways to fine-tune the program and some very small differences made in adjusting the information that needs to be read aloud,” explained Mr. Seifert.

The cooperation between the blind community and AVAST Software is being noticed globally. “It's great to see that a company like yours doesn't take very long to make their programs accessible to blind or visually impaired users. I am happy to say that avast! 5.0 does now work fully with Jaws,” wrote in Michael Osmond, a blind JAWS trainer at Dalhousie University in Haifax, Canada. An avast! user since 2008, he was particularly concerned that the email filter in 5.0 would work correctly.

The computer, and screenreader technologies, is now an integral part of blind people’s lives. “The JAWS program is so much more than a simple screen reader – it is a navigational aid,” said Eric Damery, VP Software Product Management, Freedom Scientific. “We believe this technology truly empowers the vision-impaired and the newest antivirus program from avast! will provide peace of mind for computer users.”

Review: BullGuard Internet Security 9.0

With an ever growing threat from viruses, spyware and malware its important that every user take action and protect themselves with not just a good anti-virus application but also a great security suite. These should include not just a passive anti-virus program but active protections as well. They should also include a good firewall, email protection, built in spyware/malware protection, phishing protection and preferably some sort of back-up plan.

Generally here at Geek-News we advocate using the latest in freeware protection such as Avast, AVG or Avira. While we know these are all great pieces of software in their own right they don't offer the full protection that a full fledged security suite can offer, and many times must be supplemented by other software packages. So this past few weeks we decided to stray from the norm and test out BullGuard Internet Security 9.0, a full featured packaged costing $59.95.

Testing BullGuard

We are not software security experts, nor do we want our review to reflect that. We wanted to test the security suite from the home geek's perspective. So we started off with a clean install of Windows 7 went through the standard installation procedures, and took notes of what we saw. Mostly we focused on user related information like the controls, settings and basic usage information. For actual testing we downloaded new copies of several of our favorite programs, visited several questionable sites and then tried downloading several test files. Essentially we did the things we think every home user will do every day to see how well we though the software would stack up.

The Good:

• Clean interface, easy to navigate and use
• Small footprint, uses very little memory even when scanning so it was lite on the resources
• Fully packed with lots of features

The Bad:

• Lacks customization: You install all the components or nothing (only bad if you want to use other products in conjunction with BullGuard)
• Integration: There was a serious lack of integration controls, components such as toolbars attach themselves to browsers without permission. This is something I really dislike!
• Poor firewall controls: All installed applications are seemingly always set to allow unless you manually block them. This can be a serious concern.
• Overly simplified feel: Without the above controls the security suite feels dumbed down to an advanced user.
• Questionable AV protection: Several test files were overlooked

Conclusion

Sadly I see a trend in the software world of "simplifying" user controls. For me it feels more like the dumbing down of the applications or OSs more than anything. Unfortunately BullGuard Internet Security 9.0 falls victim to this trend. For the basic user the security suite might be ideal however for advanced users wanting greater customization, more control and much tighter security you'll find the suite severely lacking.

I never actually installed any malicious software that needed an internet connection I did test with the GRC Leak Test (which was auto allowed) however the fact the firewall allowed almost every piece of software I did install an automatic connect was alarming to me. I checked the firewall settings several times and saw no options to change these settings. Its my opinion even trusted software should be set to the "ask me" setting for the first time.

The Anti-virus protection was moderate at best. I tried and successfully downloaded several test files that weren't flagged by BullGuard but were by Windows Defender and my testing on a few "keygens" that are typically flagged as malicious turned up no hits. On the plus side BullGuard did not only block many of the high priority tests but it also blacklisted the site URLs. A very proactive step towards potential future infections.

Given all the above issues I would not recommend BullGuard for most users. For the basic home users wanting lightweight protection and a simplified feel you might be ok. I however feel there are other better alternatives out there that are more well know, more reliable and just as user friendly.

New Avast Update Causes False Reports

Update: Avast - confirmed Win32:Delf-MZG [Trj] was a false positive the newest update should fix the issue. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to restore the files from the Virus Chest:

Avast latest update has apparently caused a stir as users are flooding forums wondering if they have been hit with a new infection.

Malware name: Win32:Delf-MZG [Trj]
Malware type: Trojan Horse
VPS version: 091203-0, 12/03/2009

Avast sent out a new update this afternoon that has been causing grief amongst the online community. The new update has begun reporting a new trojan dubbed Win32:Delf-MZG. According to users on the DSL Reports forums the apparent false positive shows up on almost any application.

Doing a quick Google search shows user have been posting similar issues across several other sites including the Avast forums (post 1 - post 2).

There has been no official word from Avast as of yet confirming that this is indeed a false positive however given the reach and the volume of applications reportedly infected it looks like that is indeed the case.

For now you may want to check your system with an online scanner such as Panda Active Scan or Trend Micro's house call. Once you have confirmed that your system isn't infected then you can exclude the files from scanning and submit the file as a false positive so Avast will have a sample to work with. Send the sample to virus@avast.com zipped and password protected with the password in email body, a link to this topic might help and false positive in the subject.

Update: It looks like the Avast forums are being flooded with hits right now. The site hasn't been reachable for the last 30-40 mins. Avast is on Twitter @Avast_AntiVirus, there still has been no official word confirming or denying this is a false positive. For now I'd suggest rolling back to the previous VPS version or not updating if you haven't already.

AV-Comparatives List Top Antimalware Software

AV-Comparatives is an Austrian based Non-Profit-Organization, which provides independent Anti-Virus software tests free to the public. During the course of the year the company has tested 16 of the most commonly used Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware programs out there.

The following products are tested in the current main comparatives:

avast! Professional Edition 4.8 AVG Anti-Virus 8.5 AVIRA AntiVir Premium 9 BitDefender Antivirus 2010 eScan Anti-Virus 10 ESET NOD32 Anti-Virus 4.0 F-Secure Anti-Virus 2010 G DATA AntiVirus 2010

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 Kingsoft Antivirus 2009 McAfee VirusScan Plus 2009 Microsoft Live OneCare 2.5 Norman Antivirus & Anti-Spyware 7.10 Sophos Anti-Virus 7.6 Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 2010 TrustPort Antivirus 2009

During the most recent test the AV-Comparatives used two sets of malware: Set A, which contains malware signatures found from December 2007 to December 2008 (of which most products could detect over 97 percent), and Set B, which contains malware from the last seven months (1.6 million samples). The set included the following categories of malware: Trojans (69.5 percent), Backdoors/Bots (20.7 percent), Worms (6.1 percent), other malware (1.5 percent), and Windows viruses (0.4 percent).

This test focused on how well each piece of software detected the malware proactively, without it being executed, using complex generic signatures, behavior analysis, heuristics, and so on. The basic idea is to see how well new malware can be caught without having to be updated or having to download new signatures.

In the basic summary results Avira won out hands down, however the software listed 21 false positives, dropping its overall ranking.

1. AVIRA AntiVir Premium 9.0.0.446: 74 percent
2. G DATA Antivirus 20.0.4.9: 66 percent
3. Kaspersky AntiVirus 9.0.0.463: 64 percent
4. ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4.0.437.0: 60 percent
5. F-Secure Antivirus 10.00.246: 56 percent
6. Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0 beta: 56 percent
7. Avast Professional Edition 4.8.1348: 53 percent
8. BitDefender Antivirus 13.0.13.254: 53 percent
9. eScan AntiVirus 10.0.997.491: 53 percent
10. AVG Antivirus 8.5.406: 49 percent
11. Trustport Antivirus 2.8.0.3017: 49 percent
12. McAfee VirusScan Plus 13.11.102: 47 percent
13. Symantec Norton Antivirus 17.0.0.136: 36 percent
14. Sophos Antivirus 7.6.10: 34 percent
15. Norman Antivirus & AntiSpyware 7.10.02: 32 percent
16. Kingsoft Antivirus 2009.08.05.16: 32 percent

In the overall rankings AV-Comparatives gives the nod to G DATA, Kaspersky, ESET, F-Secure, Microsoft, Avast, BitDefender and eScan. All of which earned their 3 stars "advanced plus" ranking. AVIRA (based mainly on false pos), AVG and Symantec all earned 2 stars for an "advanced" rating. While standard (one star) rating went to McAfee, TrustPort, Sophos, Norman and Kingsoft.

It should be noted during the AV-Comparatives Malware removal tests from Oct 2009 none of the 16 software packaged tested actually tested "very good". eScan, Microsoft and Symantec were the only three to achieve "good" ranking at both removal of Malware and removal of leftovers (reg entires, executables ect).

For more details checkout AV-Comparatives.org.

Panda Security Releases Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.0

Panda Security Unveils First Cloud-Based Security Services for Home Users and SMBs

Panda Cloud Antivirus emerges from beta, offering consumers free protection with industry’s smallest footprint on PC performance

Panda Security, the Cloud Security Company, today unveiled the next generation of its cloud-based anti-malware services for home users and small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs): Panda Cloud Antivirus and Panda Cloud Protection. Emerging from beta today, Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.0 is the industry’s first, free thin-client anti-virus for consumers, now featuring an even lighter footprint on PC performance. Panda Cloud Protection is a fully hosted, managed security service for SMBs, which provides hands-off protection of endpoints and email. Both security services leverage Panda’s proven Collective Intelligence cloud-scanning system, which guarantees both SMB and home users with the industry’s fastest protection against the newest and most dangerous malware.

“In the cloud and security as a service have the potential for cost savings and for fast deployment, as compared with equivalent-capacity, premises-based equipment,” according to Gartner’s recent Hype Cycle for Infrastructure Protection 2009 report.

Cloud-Based Protection for Consumers

Since its successful beta launch in April 2009, Panda Cloud Antivirus has received acclaim from industry experts and consumers for being the lightest free anti-malware service in the world. As it emerges out of beta, Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.0 offers improved protection against new and unknown viruses with even less impact on users’ PCs. Cloud Antivirus 1.0 provides 100 percent cloud-based protection against malware, spyware, rootkits and viruses. Panda Cloud Antivirus works with Windows XP (32bits), Windows Vista (32bits & 64 bits) and Windows 7 (32bits & 64 bits) operating systems and only consumes 20 MB of RAM. The new service is available in 11 languages and can be downloaded from http://www.cloudantivirus.com.

Cloud-Based Protection for SMBs and their Managed Service Providers

Today’s security software solutions are too costly and difficult to manage for the vast majority of small and medium-sized businesses. Panda Cloud Protection is an incredibly lightweight managed security service that automates all maintenance tasks and allows SMBs to stay focused on their core business, while resting easy about safeguarding their digital assets and information. As a hosted service, Panda Cloud Protection optimizes resource consumption and eliminates the need for any investment in IT infrastructure. SMBs can benefit from a fully-outsourced security service, enabling them to easily monitor and maintain their own protection against malware from anywhere, anytime, or assign responsibility to a managed service provider (MSP).

In addition, by linking to the same Collective Intelligence servers used by Panda Cloud Antivirus, SMB users will benefit from Panda’s vast global knowledgebase of malware which detects and blocks new strains from the cloud in almost real-time.

“For the last 20 years Panda Security has successfully safeguarded our customers’ digital information and identities through creating some of the world’s most innovative security solutions,” said Juan Santana, CEO for Panda Security. “The launch of Panda Cloud Protection and Panda Cloud Antivirus represents an evolutionary step in our ability to combat cybercrime, and one we’re confident the industry will follow. Panda’s new and improved security services leverage our extensive R&D in cloud computing to keep our business and home users protected with as little effort and investment as possible.”

Collective Intelligence

Collective Intelligence, Panda Security’s proprietary cloud-computing technology, leverages the knowledge gathered from the community of millions of Panda users around the world to provide unparalleled proactive malware protection with minimal impact on PC bandwidth. The Collective Intelligence servers automatically detect, correlate and respond to more than 50,000 new malware samples every day. Each new file received is classified automatically within six minutes, a process that takes days for other antivirus products to complete.

Reviews

According to a recent PC World review of free anti-virus offerings:

"Among all of the free anti-virus software we tested for our latest roundup, Panda Cloud Antivirus was the best app at blocking known malware. The approach is intended to take advantage of the latest signatures without the need for signature-database updates–and if its excellent showing at detecting malware in AV-Test.org’s zoo of half a million samples is any indication, the approach works. Panda’s app produced an impressive 99.4 percent overall detection rate."

Notable new features and upgrades to Cloud Antivirus from the initial beta include:

• New and improved interface makes Cloud Antivirus even easier to use
• Improved performance with cache optimization and memory management lowers CPU utilization and memory consumption
• New website and Collective Intelligence Monitor give users access to a list of malware from the community that is updated in real-time
• Online support forums now available at http://www.cloudantivirus.com/forum/index.jspa

Source: Panda Security

AVG Introduces New Stand Alone Link Scanner

AVG Antivirus has been a part of my tool box for years, in my opinion their free software ranks among the best in the business however on some of my PCs I prefer not to run a full fledged AV suite. But I still want to be sure I have the added protection I need for malware, spyware and generally nasty sites.

This is were AVG LinkScanner comes in. The software, that was originally packaged as part of AVG's Free Edition suite, now comes as a stand alone for anyone that wants protection from malicious sites while surfing or doing Web searches.

AVG LinkScanner incorporates itself into your browser (Internet Explorer (6.0+) and Firefox (2.0+)) and offers safety rankings for all search results from Google, Yahoo or MSN. Pages marked as safe will appear with a green check marks next to them and unsafe ones will have red "X"es. Handy little Javascript popouts will offer users more details and information on pages and results.



AVG LinkScanner will also scan existing bookmarks as well as links in e-mails and instant messages before they are opened. A feature I think is lacking is the ability to scan links on other sites. Scanning links on Twitter or MySpace would be great. The email scanner didn't seem work well, at least in my testing. I opened a phishing email received via AOL's webmail and it didn't report anything malicious, nor did it report the link as bad. FireFox phishing took care of that.

Is this something you need?

Both FireFox and IE incorporate anti-phishing filters and Google serves up its own warnings in its search results, but for users that use Yahoo or MSN this might be a useful tool. As mentioned I found it a bit lacking when used with webmail and of course it only works with web searches so it has its limits.

It only uses minimal system resources so it won’t slow down your computer and it does run seemlessly with both IE and FireFox so you hardly know its there. So there really is no draw back to adding it to your machine.

If you are using Windows 7 and want to test it out I'll warn you that I had issues uninstalling it. It might have been my machine but it never wanted to complete the uninstall.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus For Windows 7

Kaspersky Lab has released their technical prototype of Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows 7 which is now available for download. For more details you can read the full press release below, to get the new software prototype which includes not only an antivirus component but an effective and fully functional firewall and anti-spam filter visit the download page

Kaspersky Lab, a leading producer of secure content management solutions, announces the release of a technical prototype of Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows 7. The prototype is based on the new antivirus engine which provides complex antivirus protection from all types of Internet threats.

The new technical prototype of Kaspersky Anti-Virus is designed to secure computers running under Windows 7. The beta test version of Microsoft Windows 7 operating system was released at the beginning of January 2009. Kaspersky Lab simultaneously released its technical prototype providing greater efficiency and complex antivirus protection for the new operating system.

“We knew the release of the new version of Windows would be a huge event for the IT community, which is why we were prepared for it,” said Alexey Kalgin, Director, Product Marketing, Corporate Business Division, Kaspersky Lab. “Our company has always made support for Microsoft’s new operating systems a top priority. For example Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows Vista was released simultaneously with the operating system’s official launch. When Windows Server 2008 was released, Kaspersky Anti-Virus was the only antivirus product on the market certified by Microsoft. Users can now see for themselves how our antivirus protection technologies perform on the new platform.”

Kaspersky Lab’s technical preview is a comprehensive solution, including not only an antivirus pattern-recognition component but also a heuristic analyzer which can detect and block as-yet-unknown malicious programs based on their suspicious characteristics, a firewall and an anti-spam filter. The prototype is intended to provide effective protection from all types of Internet threats – viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, hacker attacks and spam.

At the heart of the new technical prototype is Kaspersky Lab’s new antivirus engine which is even more effective at detecting malicious programs than its predecessor. The new engine dramatically increases system scanning speed thanks to improved processing of objects and optimized use of system resources, particularly on dual- and quad-core processor platforms. The unique product architecture ensures high productivity and one of the lowest uses of system resources in the industry. The prototype is fully compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the operating system. Both inexperienced and advanced users will find the solution to be user-friendly and easy to install and configure.

“The new Microsoft Windows operating system promises to be even more popular than its predecessor and we expect a high level of migration after its official release. We have already received numerous requests from companies planning to migrate to Windows 7 and who are now testing its efficiency and compatibility with the products they use. We see it as our duty to provide these companies with the most secure and reliable solution for business-level protection, which is why the prototype for Windows 7 was developed on the basis of our corporate solution,” added Alexey Kalgin.

Moreover, Kaspersky Lab plans to provide centralized administration tools during the testing stage of the new operating system. By the time Windows 7 is officially released, Kaspersky Lab intends to launch a full range of products providing comprehensive protection for both home and corporate users of the new operating system.

You can download Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows 7 here.

AVG Accidentally Removes Critical Windows Component

AVG, the very popular free anti virus scanner, erroneously detects a critical Windows file as a virus and warns users to remove it, crippling the system.

An update for the AVG virus scanner released yesterday contained an incorrect virus signature, which led it to think user32.dll contained the Trojan Horses PSW.Banker4.APSA or Generic9TBN. AVG then recommended deleting this file; this causes the affected systems to either stop booting or go into a continuous reboot cycle. So far, the problem only appears to affect Windows XP, but there is no guarantee that other versions of Windows don’t have the same issue.



Both AVG 7.5 and AVG 8.0 were affected by the erroneous definition file. The file has since been update to remove the error. AVG has posted FAQs as well as a fix for affected users on their support site.

For affected users, you can either reinstall Windows or do a repair install with a Windows disk. A third option is to use a boot disc, such as the Ultimate Boot CD (ISO) and then grab the files you need from the "C:\Windows\System32\dllcache" directory.

15 free security programs that work

I'm just going to say I was reading this list and I was seriously disappointed. There is no mention of two of the top tools in use today, spy-bot search and destroy and adaware. Neither of which you should do with out, and both are free. However the rest of the tools listed are fairly good and are definitely recommended to use.



From the moment you switch on your PC, your system faces countless Internet-borne dangers, including spyware attacks, viruses, Trojan horses, home-page hijackers, and hackers trying to weasel their way into your system. And the Internet isn't the only source of trouble. Anyone with access to your PC can invade your privacy by prying into which Web sites you visit -- and learning a great deal more as well.
But fighting back is easy. We've found 15 great pieces of software -- firewalls, spyware busters, antivirus software, rootkit killers, and general Internet security tools -- designed to protect you against any dangers that come your way. They're free, they're powerful and they're easy to use. So what are you waiting for? Start downloading.
Preventing and Eliminating Malware
From firewalls to antivirus software to tools for combatting rootkits and spyware, here are some great downloads to protect your system against malicious attacks.
ZoneAlarm
Check Point Software's ZoneAlarm may well be the most popular free firewall on the planet, and the most recent release (finally) protects Vista machines. Arguably, ZoneAlarm is the product that made everyone conscious of the need for firewall protection. It's extremely easy to use, and its method of configuring outbound protection is particularly useful. Whenever a program tries to make an outbound Internet connection, ZoneAlarm announces it with a pop-up alert. You can then permit or disallow the connection, on a one-time basis or permanently. Configuring your level of protection is a simple matter of moving a few sliders. Though the free version of the software is exclusively a firewall, Check Point also offers for-pay security suites. But if all you're looking for is a firewall, stick with the free version.
Comodo Firewall Pro
ZoneAlarm is extremely popular, but that doesn't automatically make it the best free firewall you can find. One formidable contender is Comodo Firewall Pro, which independent testing site Matousec rated as the top firewall. Matousec found that Comodo offered the highest level of antileak protection, one measure of a firewall's effectiveness. Comodo offers true two-way firewall protection, is highly configurable, and (unlike most other firewalls) provides a great view of your system and your Internet connection.
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