Lavasoft News - September 2007


You won’t want to miss the scoop we have for you in this issue of LN! September is ushering in a new era at Lavasoft as we reaffirm our commitment to providing you with the tools you need to safeguard your online information. Read all about it in our article on Lavasoft’s release of three new privacy tools. Developments are ahead within the company itself, as well, as we look towards the future of malware detection, removal, and protection. Security guru Joe Wells has been welcomed to the team, and in this issue, we’re introducing him to all of you Lavasoft News readers. As always, a continuation of our commitment to your online security is to bring you reports and advice on the latest threats you’re countering online. We have fresh security updates on two dreaded Internet hazards - learn how to beat Zlob Trojans that pose as codecs needed to download videos, and how to make sure you don’t become a victim of the spam scams taking over e-mail inboxes across the globe. From last month’s issue of LN, we’d like to thank all of our “green-minded” PC users with an update on the Lavasoft tree planting challenge. If you want to comment on an article you see in LN or have a topic you would like us to cover, write to editor@lavasoft.com. Lavasoft Introduces New Privacy Tools Lavasoft has released three new products to ensure that you have the necessary tools to secure your digital files and documents. Find out the key features of Lavasoft’s new Digital Lock, File Shredder, and Privacy Toolbox. Read more Meet Joseph Wells – the Newest Member of the Lavasoft Team We had the chance to ask the security software visionary and newly appointed member of Lavasoft’s management team, Joseph Wells, about his start in the industry and views on changes in online security. Read more Defeating the Ever-Present Zlob Loyal LN readers may remember our past warnings of fake codecs, a favored method to deliver the dreaded Zlob family of Trojans to a victim’s PC. This Internet menace seems to outlast all the others in its tenacity. Learn how to stop it, today! Read more Spam Surge Inundates Inboxes Our readers have been writing in, wanting to know more about the spam flood most of us are sorting out of our inboxes. You asked for, so here it is - the latest trends of this online nuisance and what you can do battle it. Read more National Data Breach Notification Debate Heats Up Information Week At Lavasoft, we are staunch supporters of activities to protect consumers. Lavasoft has joined the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), an advocacy group set on advancing cyber security policies in the U.S. and E.U. to improve the security of global information systems. CSIA’s new Issue Brief urging U.S. national standards for consumer protection is spurring awareness on safeguarding private data. Read more Security Shorts Lavasoft News has compiled a list of "security shorts" - summaries of other online security stories making news around the world this past month. Read more New Targets in Detection (August 2007) Protect your privacy with a complete list of new targets for August 2007. Read more Vista Compatible Ad-Aware 2007 We know that Vista compatibility is an important issue for many of our customers. At the end of August, Lavasoft released the Vista compatible version update of Ad-Aware 2007. You can receive the Vista compatible version update simply by using Ad-Aware 2007’s “Web Update” feature. Read more Join the Lavasoft Team! For years, computer users have consistently turned to Lavasoft to provide them with anti-spyware protection and security. Now, with nearly 300 million downloads of Ad-Aware, people throughout the world depend on us to ensure that their privacy is secure. Take a look at open positions at Lavasoft today. Read more To get all news on one, printable page, click here Home		Stats The risk associated with using the Internet, like spam, viruses, spyware and phishing, remains high, according to Consumer Reports. In the first half of 2007, spyware infections prompted 850,000 U.S. households to replace their computers, according to a recent survey. One out of every 11 surveyed had a major, often costly problem due to spyware. The economic fallout per incident was averaged at $100 (U.S.), with damage totaling $1.7 billion. Source: Consumer Reports, State of the Net 2007 Term of the Month A pump and dump scam is a spam technique that uses misleading messages to create hype around targeted stock – usually “penny stocks” that sell for less than $1 U.S. per share. Spammers acquire the stock before sending their spam, and then “dump” their shares after share prices have inflated. The result: investors are fooled into losing money, while the spammers make off with a profit. Read more about recent spam trends in our “Spam Surge” article. Source: en.wikipedia.org Tech Tips Every time you surf the Net, your browser keeps track of all of your online steps. With Ad-Aware 2007, we’ve given you an easy solution to remove all traces of your Internet browsing from your system, keeping spyware from documenting surf patterns and targeting you with adware and spyware. TrackSweep, one of the new privacy features in Ad-Aware 2007, gives you the option to clean your cache, cookies, history, last typed URLs, and browser tabs from Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera, in one clean sweep! To use TrackSweep, from the “Tools & Plug-Ins” tab in Ad-Aware 2007’s user interface, select “TrackSweep” and then choose the items you want cleaned. TrackSweep is a feature in Ad-Aware 2007 Free, Plus and Pro. Helpful Homepage The Anti-Phishing Working Group is an organization committed to wiping out online scams by focusing on eliminating fraud and identity theft that results from phishing, pharming, and e-mail spoofing. Visit its website to report phishing attempts, pharming sites, and crimeware, or browse the informative resources section to brush up on the latest threats. Lavasoft AB Lilla Bommen 1 411 04 Gothenburg Sweden www.lavasoft.com editor@lavasoft.com