14 DAY TRIAL // AVAST Software's upcoming anti-malware offerings will offer users the option to create a secure virtual desktop that can be used to perform sensitive tasks without worrying about infections on the host system.
AVAST is actively working towards releasing version 6.0 of its product line and since it develops one of the most popular free anti-malware products in the world, with over 140 million registered users, we keep a close eye on the company's new announcements.
At the end of January we reported about the AutoSandbox feature which will allow Avast! 6.0 users to open suspicious applications in a controlled environment to determine if they are malicious or not before giving them access to the system.
Last week, the company announced a new website reputation service called WebRep which will combine threat intelligence data gathered from avast! installations with manual user ratings to calculate and display the reputation of links listed in search results.
The newly revealed SafeZone desktop virtualization feature will only be available in the company's paid products, avast! Antivirus Pro and avast! Internet Security.
"A user can never be absolutely sure that his or her machine is 100 percent clean. But now with SafeZone, they can have a secure virtual space from which malware is not able to steal their sensitive data," says AVAST Software CTO, Ondrej Vlcek.
"This is really a 180 degree change in philosophy as we've long focused on keeping malware from getting in. Now we can also keep malware from taking any information out," he explains.
The feature will really come in handy, especially against banking trojans, whose developers release tens of small variations every day in an attempt to evade antivirus detection.
There were numerous cases where companies running up-to-date antivirus programs reported money being stolen from their accounts due to ZeuS infections.
The new SafeZone gives users a secure environment where they can perform sensitive tasks like online banking without having to worry that a trojan might be lurking in the background.
By default, data and settings on the virtual desktop persist between sessions, but they can simply be deleted at any time by pressing a "Reset SafeZone" button.
"SafeZone is about creating a new secure, private space - without users having to worry about the technical specifics, and one that is not dependent on an already clean machine. In this way, AVAST is furthering the fundamental concept of 'transparent security'," Mr. Vlcek concludes.
