This coming year, 2009, marks Lavasoft’s 10th anniversary of providing computer users around the world with the power to protect their privacy and security. You’ve watched the Lavasoft story unfold over the past decade (don’t forget that we were the original anti-spyware company), beginning with our flagship Ad-Aware product and progressively expanding to provide you with more, powerful PC security solutions. Now, we’re asking you, our loyal customers, to share your stories and comments with us.

As a company, we would not have the global reach we have today without the support of our Ad-Aware users; your longtime trust in our software has made it the world’s most popular anti-spyware program ever, downloaded over 350 million times since we started – that’s getting close to a half billion downloads! We’d like you to join us in celebrating 10 years of anti-spyware security by describing what Lavasoft and Ad-Aware mean to you and/or what you like best about our products.

We’ll choose a selection of your stories to post on our website and in our company newsletter, Lavasoft News. Please send your e-mail to editor@lavasoft.com and include the following information:

• Your name
• Your location (city and country)
• The name of your first Lavasoft product and the year you started using it

We look forward to hearing from you!

How much information can be collected by a single piece of malware?

According to a recent GCN.com article, one botnet alone harvested the usernames and passwords of:

• 8,485 bank accounts
• 3,233 credit card accounts
• 151,000 e-mail accounts
• 58,391 social networking site accounts
• 4,237 online retailer accounts
• 416 stock trading accounts
• 869 payment processor accounts
• 413 mortgage accounts
• 422 finance company accounts

That’s a wealth of information – nearly 500 gigabytes to be exact – and it represents only six months of operations. For more information on this specific botnet, take a look at the full article on the malware responsible for it, the Coreflood Trojan.

Be careful out there as you surf the Web!

Ad-Aware 2008 Free was recently reviewed by the UK site, IT Reviews. Here are a few words from the review:

“Not only does Ad-Aware Free provide a commendable scan time performance, it also runs smoothly and doesn’t hog too much in the way of system resources.”

“The interface is nifty as well, with a small collection of skins to select…”

“While it might be small, this program isn’t far off perfectly formed…”

Thanks for the kudos, IT Reviews! With our freeware getting feedback like this, wondering what our Plus and Pro versions have to offer? You’ll benefit from real-time detection plus seamless anti-spyware and anti-virus protection. Visit our Trial Center to download a free 30-day trial of Ad-Aware Plus or Pro.

…for your unpatched Windows PC to be compromised by hackers.

That’s the estimate reported late last month from the SANS Institute’s Internet Storm Center. While “survival time” measurements of computers connected to the Internet vary and are debated by some, there’s no doubt that patching your PC is imperative in staying secure online.

Since we just passed August’s Patch Tuesday, this is a timely reminder to use the Microsoft Update website to set your computer to receive security updates automatically. And, of course, make sure your security software is up-to-date. Check out the new and improved Lavasoft Security Center today for more information on must-have protection for your PC.

Lavasoft File Shredder has been chosen by the team at FreeFunFiles as their Editor’s Pick for the month of August. Thanks, FreeFunFiles!

Are you using Lavasoft File Shredder to delete your sensitive files? Download a free 30-day trial version and try it out for yourself!

You’re working at your computer when you realize something is not right; you’re plagued with messages warning you that you may be infected. It’s clear that you’ve been hit by malware. But where do you turn for help in sorting out the mess on your PC? Most likely to a knowledgeable friend or family member, and to trusted security software.

Case in point: Matt Smith, an Ad-Aware user, was approached by his father to help clean up a particularly tenacious infection (see the image, at left) caused by the rogue program, XP AntiVirus. In order to help others that find themselves in a similar malware predicament, Matt detailed the steps taken to get his father back to malware-free computing – including using Ad-Aware – in his blog at his Swoofware.com site. If you’ve run into this rogue, you may be interested in Matt’s posts, and if you haven’t yet, take a look at some of the lessons learned from this ordeal, to make sure you don’t find yourself in a similar situation:

• Make sure your family and friends are running a reputable anti-spyware tool in addition to their anti-virus tool.
• Have your family and friends switch from IE to Firefox.
• Try to get them to run under the non-admin account.
• Tell them to trust their instinct when something doesn’t seem right.
• Make sure that at least one of your kids is technically-literate to bail you out when you can no longer keep up with technology.

For more information on the rogue program, XP AntiVirus 2008 and its clones, take advantage of free support from our worldwide volunteer security network at the Lavasoft Support Forums.

Getting ready for the busy back to school season? While PCs are likely a prerequisite for school-bound young adults, securing those laptops or desktops is unlikely to be a top priority.

Make sure that your kids have the knowledge and tools needed to secure their computers and to stay malware-free. Ease the workload by taking a look at the newly released August issue of Lavasoft News, full of tips on how to prepare both young children and young adults for the situations they’ll encounter online.

Looking for more ways to stay informed on the security issues you and your family face online? Check out our new and improved Lavasoft Security Center to learn more about how you can reduce your chances of becoming a victim of cyber crime.

We can’t say we’re surprised that the Storm Worm is sending a new squall of spam through our inboxes. In fact, Storm has shifted spam campaigns numerous times in the past few weeks alone.

But this latest bout is another timely reminder of the changing tactics that are being used in an attempt to pique your interest and infect your system. The Internet Crime Complaint Center has issued a warning to be on the lookout for spam e-mail mentioning news of “F.B.I. vs. Facebook.” The attackers are trying to tap into the privacy concerns of social networking site users, and according to reports, are leading users to websites that are constantly changing in order to feign legitimacy.

(Photo: Internet Crime Complaint Center) 

Judging from the past, it’s a safe bet that we’re likely to keep seeing different variations of the theme used to propagate the Storm botnet – be cautious as you check your e-mail! And, of course, be sure to keep your Ad-Aware 2008 updated (Ad-Aware detects the Storm Worm as Win32.Worm.Zhelatin).

If you follow security news, you may be familiar with the Domain Name System (DNS) security issue, discovered by researcher Dan Kaminsky, that was disclosed earlier this month. DNS is responsible for translating host names to IP addresses. The vulnerability allows hackers and phishers to redirect DNS queries; if a server is compromised, attackers could potentially redirect the traffic from that server to malicious websites.

Now, making this issue more serious, there are reports out of attacks taking advantage of the flaw. This means that patching by Internet Service Providers is even more important.

What can you do? Check if your DNS is vulnerable to exploits by using a tool like the DNS checker posted on Dan Kaminsky’s blog.

For more information about how to know if you’re vulnerable and what to do if you are, take a look at Computer World’s article, “FAQ: The DNS Bug and You.”

How safe are your kids as they navigate the Net? According to a new study, while parents are trying to talk to young family members about computer safety, many kids are still engaging in risky online behavior, like posting personal information about themselves on social networking sites.

From a PCMag.com article on the study - 

“As they get older, tweens are less concerned about the ramifications of posting personal information online. About 67 percent of kids aged 8-10 said they don’t post personal information on the Internet; that number dropped to 51 percent among 11-12 year olds.”

It’s another reminder of the importance of having conversations with young kids, “tweens”, and teens about online safety. To read more about the issues kids face online and to learn strategies for talking to children of all ages about PC safety, stay tuned for the next issue of Lavasoft News.