North America’s number one distributor of security products from AVG Technologies, Walling Data came to the rescue of O’Fallon Township High School in O’Fallon, Illinois when the school needed to renew and upgrade their AVG Anti-Virus Network Edition license, and found their existing supplier had gone out of business.

Dwight Espenschied, director of technology for the school for the past 13 years, had used AVG to protect the school’s 20 servers and 725 workstations for many years. The prospect of out-dated protection on a network full of teenagers downloading who-knows-what from the Internet was not something he wanted to even think about so Espenschied immediately began a search for a new supplier.

Espenschied found Walling Data on the Internet and was impressed with what he saw. “I needed a supplier who understands the particular requirements of educational environments and could provide the necessary level of service and budgetary flexibility,” he recalled.

“I also like to get to know a bit about who I’m buying from, so I really liked the fact that I could pick up the phone and talk to a live human at Walling. After we talked for a while, it was clear they had been around for a long time and knew what they were doing when it came to security for educational institutions, so I decided then and there I wanted to do business with them.”

Walling Data is the longest-standing and highest-volume distributor of AVG Technologies solutions in North America. It’s also the only distributor to offer all its customers – resellers and end-users – free, unlimited, U.S.-based pre- and post-sales support.

Espenschied was also pleased with Walling Data’s flexibility during the purchasing process, which only served as further confirmation that he’d made the right choice.

“Unlike many distributors I’ve done business with, particularly those who only take online orders, Walling Data was flexible in processing our order,” said Espenschied. “I was able to renew our licenses using a purchase order, which made it a quick and easy process for everyone involved. Plus it’s always good to know that free expert technical support is just a toll-free call away.”

The Road to AVG

Although O’Fallon Township High School has used AVG Anti-Virus Network Edition for several years, the road to finding their ideal security software was not a painless one. He recalled what led him to AVG:

“Our first foray into virus protection was McAfee. Then we tried Norton. But both were rather hard to use and manage than made sense for our environment. For example, Norton kind of gets in the system everywhere – it’s almost impossible to fully uninstall it – while McAfee slowed things down to a crawl. I was at my wits end with these products and decided to see what else was out there. That’s when I came across AVG and tried it out.”

Espenschied has not looked back. “I like AVG better than the ‘big name’ brands because it is faster and more affordable,” he said. “Plus, I’ve never had an infected machine AVG couldn’t clean up quickly and efficiently. AVG lets our students, staff, and faculty use the network productively without getting in the way. No-one even knows it’s there – it just does the job it is supposed to do.”

Espenschied is so pleased with AVG that he uses the Free Edition on his personal home computer and recommends it to friends.

“Because I’m in technology, friends and family who are less tech-savvy are always coming to me with ‘my computer at home is doing this and that’”, he said. “All I need to do is tell them to go to Google and type in AVG Free Edition. Once they try it, their problems disappear, and they fall in love with it. What’s not to love? It’s free, it does the job, and it stays out of the way.”

About Walling Data

Founded in 1994, N.C.-based Walling Data is a value-added technology distributor of technology products for resellers, small businesses, and education and government institutions. Walling Data was the nation’s first distributor of AVG security products and today is the highest-volume distributor for the product in North America, with more than 50,000 satisfied customers. Walling is also the only value-added distributor for Cymphonix Network Composer, an award-winning device that helps companies control and monitor users compliance with internet usage policies. Additionally, the company has recently become a distributor of CyberPatrol’s parental control and business-grade web filtering solutions. Walling Data provides free, unlimited, U.S.-based phone and “we-do-it-for-you” remote support for all of its customers. For more information, visit www.wallingdata.com and www.avg-antivirus.net

About AVG

Founded in 1991 and with offices in the US and Europe, AVG is a leading international developer of Internet threat protection solutions for consumers and SMBs. AVG is one of the fastest growing companies in the industry with more than 80 million active users around the world. The company employs some of the world’s leading experts in Internet security, specifically in the areas of threat research, analysis and detection. AVG’s award-winning products are distributed globally through resellers and over the Internet as well as via third parties through Software Developer’s Kits (SDK).

BitDefender announces the availability of its new 2009 range of security products, as previously composed of three products: BitDefender Antivirus 2009, BitDefender Internet Security 2009 and BitDefender Total Security 2009. The range is enriched including additions to the high-end product, Total Security, which gets a module for the protection of sensitive data by a 256-bit AES algorithm and protection of instant messaging, allowing including encrypting exchanges. The real-time protection is in turn improved the level of defence proactive, and subsequently helps protect a centralized all PC LAN.

Other improvements include a “laptop” which automatically postpones maintenance tasks or analysis when programmed laptop batteries east mode, a new detection system integrated with the intrusions firewall (which also gets support for IPv6), a new interface standard mode, and improved performance and the conosmmation resources. The range BitDefender 2009 is available at a price of 35.95 euros for the TTC version Antivirus, 53.95 euros TTC for the Internet Security and 55.95 euros for the TTC version Total Security.

I purchased bitdefender Internet Security 2009 and it is a terrible product. It has caused problems with my internet connection, Gmail, the auto-scan does not work, customer service is terrible and they won’t refund my money. I will never buy another bitdefender product and suggest no one else does either.

How can this new iterateraition of an old threat get by up to date real-time anti virus scanners? I’ve now seen it infect systems running up to date Avast and also Micro Trend Officescan. I would image it has passed through others.

From what I understand, this is the same crap as XP Antivirus 2007 and 2008. Also have read that it morphs into Antivirus VIP. Anyway, I’m mainly confused as to how it it bypassing scanners? I suspect (because I was not present when the infection occurred) that when an infected web page popped up a message to click on a link to download a repair for the poor users infected system, that they clicked on it and {purposely} installed the virus. But still, it seems to disable resident scanners.

Today, the Internet is fully engaged with the talk of viruses, worms, spyware, cyber crime, malware, spam etc. This is because, as much as the physical world in which we live, the types of people who exist on the internet are also diverse, from scientists to business professionals to children to criminals. Similarly, as with the physical world, the places we visit on the web can vary from wild and wacky to academic to detestable. Therefore, caution has to be taken while we deal with people and visit places on the internet. It is essential that we do not trust people whom we don?t know on the internet. Similarly, we should exercise caution when visiting unfamiliar websites or sites with which we have no prior relationship. The threat landscape has become more dynamic with thousands of malware being created everyday. You can forget all these fears by installing a licensed internet security suite.

An Internet security camera is a very new innovation in the surveillance world today. They are very user friendly and are a cinch to set up. All that is needed is your IP address and password to access the camera feed from anywhere that you have Internet access. Many people do not realize how different it is than the basic security camera system due to the number of things they can be used for.

Imagine leaving your children at home alone for the first time and being able to keep an eye on their activities. If your children are not old enough to be home alone, you could watch the babysitter to make sure that she is giving your children proper care while you are away. Of course, as long as you have a laptop with you, your vacations could be a lot more relaxed when you can get a live feed of your home from anywhere in the world.

If you?re a small business owner, you could set up your Internet security camera system in your shop or office to keep an eye on your employees or customers from the comfort of your own home. Of course they will be on their best behavior when you are present, but now you can monitor their actions when you aren’t there. It’s a great way to know who you can trust, as opposed to who is being dishonest.

In addition to the great things it could do, it is very inexpensive to buy. Almost anyone could benefit from an Internet security camera, whether it’s for security of your home and belongings or just keeping an eye on your family.

A Firewall is a barrier generally placed between the internet and your network (or computer).

IT Security is the most important need of every organization. Especially effective Internet Security has become an essential need for every small, medium or large enterprises using information technology and other internet based services to perform their work easily and effectively. The organization’s dependency over Internet has increased the need for internet security implementation and network monitoring inside the organization.

After the introduction of broadband internet, security risks have increased drastically. Nowadays most of the Internet users (home users and professionals) are using broadband internet connection. All companies from private and public sector, non-government organization, educational institutes and financial institutions are dependent on Internet for information exchange. Internet is also a major way of instant communication between two channels. Therefore, chances of information leak, hacking or intrusion are more than earlier days due to increasing dependency on internet.

Security Vulnerability with the Internet connection or Intranet can result following major security threats:

1. Unauthorized access of servers and systems in the network,
2. Unauthorized access of Internet connection for illegal or criminal purposes
3. Stealing, alteration or deletion of sensitive systems and data
4. Denial-of-service attacks, resulting in an inability by users to access systems
5. Viruses or Trojans attack on systems, Virus infections in important data
6. Destruction of websites and online systems

Above described threats are just glimpse of security threats caused by weak Internet Security Mechanism. Information is an asset that, like other important business assets, has value to an organization and consequently needs to be suitably protected. Failure in implementation of proper internet security mechanism can ultimately have worse effect. An organization with no or less effective internet security policy can have following ill effects:

1. Deterioration of organization’s overall reputation
2. Reduced public confidence in the agency?s online services
3. Unauthorized disclosure of company’s secret information
4. Financial loss through online fraud
5. Financial loss by reducing productive work hours due to intrusion

To secure workplace from potential internet threats, an organization has to adopt proper internet security policy, utilize best available security tools, and practice strict monitoring measures (manual and automated both) inside office premises. With proper planning, technical expertise and continuous efforts an organization can restrict most of the external threats related to Internet Security.

Pandora’s box has been opened and the explosion of information both personal and non-personal seems to be limitless and increases exponentially. And according to the National Opinion Poll taken in January of 2007 half the UK harbors a “deep mistrust” due to security concerns. Not only is there a deep public mistrust but, the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology are inquiring into the need for personal Internet Security because of the growing use of home computers, expansion of broadband, internet banking and commerce (Brent MacLean “A new look at Internet Security” Monday September 10, 2007).

Every one is talking extensively ( ISP Associations, Richard Clayton of the Cambridge Security Lab, John Carr of the Children’s Charities Coalition on Internet Safety, as well as Johnathan Zittrain of the Oxford Internet Institute and many others), gathering evidence of information and compiling it all for what? Sadly, most businesses and citizens still do not take the threat posed by cyber-insecurity seriously.

You would think with dependency of economies relying on certain infrastructures involving the Internet and information exchange between key service providers, that a disruption would certainly result in loss of lives, loss of property, and the collapse of public confidence globablly. Today simple domestic hacking is not the issue that will bring on devastating destruction like those designed by terrorist activities directed at nuclear plants, banking systems, hospitals, air traffic control as well as domain name servers, the possibilities are limitless. However, it is imperative to remove these personal and public computers from the arsenal of cyber terrorists as well as cybercriminals. With 225 million Internet users in North America (Nielson-Netratings), the personal computer dominates the Internet and at the same time is the most vulnerable. Millions of PCs are under the control of “zombie masters”. Red Herring, the technical business journal, estimated that in 2005 a 172,000 computers were hijacked and taken over each day and became “zombies” and under the control of a hacker. By 2007, Secure Computing, which tracks the Internet landscape, identified more than 500,000 new zombies per day that were hijacked and under the control of “bot” herders. Triple the level only two years earlier. The FBI says that because of their wideley distributed capabilities, botnets are a growing threat to national security, the national information infrastructure, and the economy.

The total number of compromised computers on the Internet is not known; however, Vince Cerf, Father of the Internet, estimates that about 150 million PCs currently connected to the Internet and are part of botnets. Based on FBI reports and other independent researchers the aforementioned number may be significantly higher. The typical home computer is attached to “always on” broadband facilities, severely compromised with malware (viruses, spyware, Trojans, keyloggers, etc.), usually without degradation of their ordinary capabilities and doing the bidding of their “zombie master”. Hacking, virus dissemination, denial od service (DoS), theft of personal data, ID fraud, keyloggers, spamming, distribution of pornography, spying through webcams, click fraud and many other cyber exploits are all now almost wholly orchestrated via zombie networks.

Computers weren’t designed for security; they were designed to perform complex work. As complex as computers are, each computer has 65,000 open ports (doorways) to the Internet; a simple element that leaves them vulnerable. You might wonder why an individual would want control of a herd of zombies, there are several reasons. For exploits whether it’s a denial of service, to bring down the servers of banks, major corporations, or a competitor. Inherently, whenever a computer says “hello” to another computer, that computer must respond with a “hello” back. A “bot herder” with tens of thousands of computers under their control has all of them say hello at the same time to your computer or a network of computers, what do think happens. Most likely the responding PC or server is overwhelmed and crashes, it simply can’t respond to that many hellos. A botnet can be purchased on the black market to carry out attacks. Zombie-making virus kits can be purchased on the net, requiring little or no technical knowledge and which provides the breeding ground for future international cybercriminals and the training ground for cybergangs (terrorists).

What are we to do? Implementing new laws when it’s already difficult to pursue and in some cases unenforceable and with cross-border criminal investigations not to mention the resources needed are vast and costly with little results.

How do we secure the Internet now? One idea is to improve administrative, regulatory, and technical solutions to produce a safer Net and then apply resources to fortify banks, airports, power plants from the insecure internet we have allowed to develop. It begins with securing the end-user and creating an awareness that we are all responsible for the safety of the Internet and we all need to “Become Responsible Cybercitizens”.

We the people have to make an effort to make sure our machines run clean and free of malware (viruses, spyware, trojans, etc.). That involves current patches, updates, upgrades, and professional software technologies. It also obligates everyone of us to make sure that we have not been compromised by having our computers serviced by a security technician and assured that there is no malware present. There is a service, the Invisus PC security service, that will provide a fully managed computer security service including unlimited security technical support plus several additional benefits that will earn you the title of a “Responsible Cybercitizen”.

Requiring ISPs to scan data traffic going to and from computers attached to their networks for unusual patterns of traffic and then deny them Internet access until it has been determined they are not zombies. We can also ask the ISP to provide remote patches, updates and software updates. However, the ISPs will bulk at the cost, liability, autonomy, support, and delivery. Or have our ISPs provide a value-added service similar to subscription-based services offered by the Invisus PC security service which not only provides for a hassle-free computing experience but, is a total security package locking down the end-users computer for a minimum monthly fee.

In order to succeed we must meld security and convenience. The consumer doesn’t want to be responsible for their security. All they want to know is how to turn their computer on and off. Unfortunately, we can’t have our cake and eat it too. The time has come to learn how to maintain a safe and healthy computer (saving the consumer both time and money) void of infections that keep spreading and infecting other computers. It’s not necessary to be technically savvy to operate a computer, like your automobile there’s no need to be a technically savvy mechanic but, it is important to make sure your car is in good operating condition not only for its performance but, for the safety of others. We have laws to assure us the security of cars and their owners are safe. Those who are ignorant of how to maintain the safety of an automobile are required to perform certain responsibilities to insure the safety of their vehicle for others as well as the owner of the car. To insure the safety of others we require a certain level of education and knowledge of the rules of the road. You can’t drive without insurance or a drivers license, which means that you have undertaken and understand some level of instructions.

You may disagree but, unfortunately as impossible as it may be practically, politically, and ethically, to require every consumer… including the ignorant, the poor, and even the wealthy, to be legally responsible for keeping their computer in a state of reasonable security, the fact is you are guilty until proven innocent. So, the next best approach might be to offer to try and educate them but we probably cannot impose a “computer-driving license”. Again, we may be able to offer an alternative by requiring the consumer to take necessary steps to assure that their computers are serviced and up-to-date with professional security software and that they are checked and given a clean bill of health; free of malware.

The growing problem of ?Bot nets?.Criminals have learned how to use your computer to take control of thousands of other computers in order to spread and execute malicious tasks on unprotected computers. The method they using to spread these viruses and malicious code is through what is now called ?Bot nets?Botnets, which can be a network of millions of computers, can dispense and spread viruses, spam e-mail, commit fraud and attack other computers and servers.”Bot nets” are designed to damage personal computers. Bot nets are made by inserting malicious code or software into many different spam e-mails and websites. When a PC user is contaminated they are immediately under the power of someone called a bot herder.A bot herder is a secret hacker who can be in charge of up to a million and a half contaminated computers and uses the computers they now have control of, to begin attacks all at once to other computers.This is a very serious problem. The FBI says that this problem is so serious, they consider this a threat to national security, a threat to the economy and to the national data inftrastructure.Guarding your PC from BotnetsThese bot herders are scanning for unprotected PCs that may not have a firewall or antivirus installed. Your best protection to prevent Botnets is to make sure your PC is protected with a personal firewall program, antivirus and antispyware program. In addition, always keep your anti-virus software and firewall up to date for maximum protection.Is your computer already infected?Signs and symptons you may have a virus or botnet on your computer: 1. Your computer seems to be operating slow2. Unexpected boxes pop up or is displaying mysterious messages.These viruses usually do not disable your computer, because zombie computers must be plugged in and connected to the Internet in order for the botnet to work.5 ways to help keep your computer from becoming a zombie.1. Make sure you use a personal firewall software.2. Keep your computer system up to date3. Install an antivirus software4. Use a recommended antispyware program5. Never open attachments you are not sure about.Top 3 internet security software programs 1. Norton 360 2. 3. PC Security Shield

In this technology driven world the use of computers and the internet is only increasing. However everyone is aware of one fact that internet use may invite some Trojans or malware to enter your Personal computer. The best way to keep away from unwanted malware or viruses is to install good quality antivirus software. Below are some of the steps to choose the best antivirus software for computer security.
?