AVG Technologies, a leading provider of Internet Security software, today released AVG Internet Security 8.0, the latest version of its flagship suite for consumers and SMBs. AVG 8.0 delivers a significant number of new benefits to users designed to deliver enhanced protection against the latest web-borne threats without sacrificing the product's signature efficiency and unobtrusiveness.

"Today's Internet is like the Wild West of old. While it's packed with new and exciting places to go and things to do, it's also rife with hidden threats. AVG 8.0 delivers solid, reliable protection against these sophisticated web-borne threats that can infect computers without the user even needing to click a link," said Karel Obluk, CTO of AVG Technologies and the chief architect behind AVG 8.0. "The nature of the Internet threat landscape has changed dramatically, yet most conventional security solutions are still fighting yesterday's battle with their narrow focus on viruses and spyware. AVG 8.0 expands upon our traditional strengths in anti-virus and anti-spyware with the integration of the LinkScanner real-time safe searching and surfing technologies obtained through our acquisition of Exploit Prevention Labs in December 2007."

"The nature of online threats has changed from script kiddies to more organized criminal efforts," says Brian Burke, Program Director, Security Products at IDC. "Consumers and businesses would be well advised to consider real-time protection against drive-by downloads and other infective methods that require no user interaction."

In addition to the LinkScanner web exploit protection, other significant new benefits include faster scanning performance through a multi-threaded scanning engine that leverages the latest multi-core hardware; protection against rootkits and system intrusion; security for MSN and ICQ instant messaging; and detection of infected file downloads. The completely redesigned user interface makes it easy for novice users to benefit from comprehensive out-of-the-box protection while enabling more advanced users to perform extensive customization of the product.

"The new safe search and safe surf technology in AVG 8.0 enables us to offer the only true real-time protection against web threats on the market today; the type of threats traditional firewalls, anti-virus and internet security products cannot stop," said J.R. Smith, CEO of AVG Technologies. "Real-time detection of these threats is essential, as poisoned web pages may only be infective for a matter of hours, after which the perpetrator moves on to another site. Other products on the market offer web protection based on databases of sites that may or may not have contained some kind of malicious content at some time in the past. The LinkScanner technology we acquired with Exploit Prevention Labs enables us to, unlike the competition, scan search results, web links and web pages in real-time to ensure they are safe before they are opened, which is the only time that really matters -- before the user is potentially exposed. In other words, we can stop threats before they become a problem for people."

An example of why real-time web page analysis is so important to both site owners and visitors was described by AVG chief research officer Roger Thompson in his blog on February 25, 2008. The website of the St. Kilda Football Club, a major Australian Rules football club, was being reported by Google as a site that "may harm your computer." While the site was likely hacked at some time in the past, it is clean now, yet anyone searching for the club's website using Google will be blocked from reaching the site.

The security threats faced by Internet users today have changed significantly over the past decade. Ten years ago, the primary threats facing computer users were viruses and email-propagated worms. These threats were often created by thrill-seeking hackers out to prove their programming prowess or to make some kind of statement.

Starting in the late '90s, the rise in adware and spyware marked the appearance of a new kind of threat, one in which the creators were motivated by profit more than notoriety and bragging rights.

AVG security researchers, led by Karel Obluk, Roger Thompson and Petr Odehnal, were among the first in the industry to note the subsequent increase in more aggressive and dangerous threats that manifested themselves as drive-by downloads -- delivery of malware that required no user interaction beyond visiting a particular web page. These threats were clearly designed to steal personal information, track user movements and actions, acquire bank account or credit card data and other digital assets, all in an effort to make money.