Tips and Tactics

Following the news of our Ad-Aware 2008 launch, we’ve received a few common queries from our LN readers on the extended virus protection integrated in the new and improved Plus and Pro versions. Below, we answer your questions on the Ad-Aware 2008 product line.

What’s the benefit of combining anti-spyware and anti-virus protection?
As a computer user, you know that cyber attacks are growing increasingly sophisticated. Malware writers are stealthily blending threats made up of different types of malicious software – combining traditional forms of spyware with traditional forms of viruses – in order to get past your defenses. As the minimum to keep you safe and secure online, we recommend three tiers of protection: anti-spyware software, anti-virus software, and a firewall.

To take on today’s blended threat landscape, we’ve developed our latest Plus and Pro versions of Ad-Aware 2008 to combine anti-spyware and anti-virus protection into one seamless application. With the new and improved Ad-Aware 2008, you’ll benefit from extended threat detection – with protection against over one million cyber threats – while conserving resources that are needed to run multi-leveled security protection.

Can Ad-Aware 2008 Plus and Pro versions replace my usual anti-virus program?
At Lavasoft, we always give you, the computer user, the right to choose what is best for your system. That’s why we work to develop programs that will not conflict with other security software. At the same time, we develop our software with the aim to give you the power to protect your privacy against today’s complex threats; the new extended anti-virus engine in Ad-Aware Plus and Pro versions goes head to head with any standalone anti-virus protection on the market today.  If you, however, have a stand-alone anti-virus program that you know and trust, or have an active license, you have the option to ‘turn off’ the anti-virus detection in Ad-Aware 2008. The choice is yours.

What are the new functions and features of Ad-Aware 2008 Free, Plus, and Pro?
While we continue to offer the freeware version of our anti-spyware software for personal home use, the extended anti-virus feature is only included in Ad-Aware 2008 Plus and Pro versions. The anti-virus engine is activated by default, but as we said before, Plus and Pro users can turn off the extended anti-virus scan engine, if they choose to do so. Looking for more information? You’ll find the full features of each new version in our “Ad-Aware 2008: Bigger and Better Detection” article.

And remember, if you have a valid Ad-Aware 2007 license, update to the new version, free of charge, through the Lavasoft Support Center in order to benefit from the features of the latest version.

We continue to receive requests to provide you with additional solutions to protect your privacy. You want it, you got it – by popular demand, standalone anti-virus software is in development; stay tuned next month for more release information!