McAfee Acquires SiteAdvisor
Hoping to improve its online security offerings, McAfee on Wednesday announced that it had acquired SiteAdvisor. The Boston, Mass. based company maintains a database of Web sites that it tests for spyware, adware, spam, browser attacks, and online scams.
Each site is rated by a green, yellow or red icon based on those tests. McAfee says the acquisition would give an unprecedented level of security for those surfing the Internet when combined with the company's other products.
McAfee Gaffe Deletes Excel, Other Apps
An error within the virus definition file for McAfee's antivirus software marked several Microsoft Office components, some Adobe product applications, and several other programs as viruses. Depending on the settings, these files would be either quarantined or deleted.
The update was released Friday, and by the afternoon the company was made aware of the issue after it began receiving unusually high reports of the virus known as W95/CTX. By the evening, McAfee had pushed an update to its servers to fix the problem.
McAfee Pushes Anti-Spyware Initiative
On the heels of the Sony BMG DRM rootkit fiasco, security software firm McAfee announced on Tuesday that it was beginning a new initiative to raise awareness of malware and its potential threat to consumers and businesses.
According to studies, as many as one-third of those infected by spyware do not know it, and 42 percent have no idea how they were infected.
McAfee Updates Anti-Virus for Mac OS
McAfee on Wednesday announced that its Virex anti-virus software would now support Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger." The program is aimed at the business community to help prevent the spread of Windows worms and viruses. Although there still is no known virus that can infect a Mac OS X system, it can still act as a "carrier" and transmit Windows viruses to other Windows computers.
"Although the Macintosh installed base is relatively small, it is still be a potential target for hackers, especially Macintosh systems that are connected to the corporate network," Steve Crutchfield, director of product marketing, McAfee said. The new version will be released on August 29.
McAfee Introduces 2006 Product Line
McAfee on Tuesday unveiled its 2006 security software product line, which is now available for download as a subscription service. The final release comes just over two months after the company began beta testing. The suite of six products were designed to combat current and emerging threats, from viruses to phishing scams and spyware.
Among the 2006 products are: McAfee ViruScan, Personal Firewall Plus, AntiSpyware, SpamKiller, Privacy Service and McAfee QuickClean. The company is also planning to introduce a new security tool aimed at wireless networks called McAfee Wireless Home Network Security. The $49.99 software locks down home wireless networks from intruders and freeloaders.
McAfee Aims to Prevent Linux Attacks
McAfee is looking to help protect against what it calls a dramatic increase of attacks on Linux systems. The company's Entercept intrusion prevention system -- already available for Windows and Solaris -- uses a combination of behavioral rules, signatures and a firewall to protect IT infrastructure from attack.
The security software maker ported the Entercept server agent to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 because of what it considers to be a rapid rate of adoption for the open source platform. McAfee says that as Linux is more broadly installed, attacks against it have increased with more exploits targeting Web-facing Linux applications.
McAfee Buys Wireless Security Tech
Security software vendor McAfee has acquired Wireless Security Corp, obtaining encryption, authentication and intrusion protection technology to lock down Wi-Fi based networks.
McAfee will use Wireless Security's technologies in combination with its own Antivirus, Firewall and Internet Security products to secure the perimeter around home and small business customers.
McAfee Seeks VirusScan 10 Testers
Security software maker McAfee is readying a slew of betas for the second half of 2005. Among the tests is the 10.0 release of McAfee's flagship VirusScan that improves instant messenger scanning, alerts for malicious scripts and worm-like activity, Windows Explorer integration, and Microsoft Outlook integration.
McAfee Personal Firewall Plus 7.0, McAfee SpamKiller 7.0 and McAfee AntiSpyware 2.0 are also currently in beta. McAfee Privacy Service 8.0 and McAfee QuickClean 6.0, meanwhile, are on the docket for mid-June. Testers may participate by visiting McAfee's Beta Program Web site. Some incentives to test the software include free licenses and an iPod Shuffle giveaway.
McAfee Tests Virus Scans During Boot
McAfee is developing an antivirus product that will intervene in native mode while Microsoft Windows is starting up to provide more flexibility and control over its products.
Geared toward enterprise users, McAfee PreScan integrates with McAfee's ePO 3.0/3.5 and Protection Pilot 1.1 security management software. The software will incorporate McAfee's 4400 antivirus engine, scan and clean FAT and NTFS partitions and scan removable devices.
McAfee Prepares New Antivirus Engine
McAfee is preparing to test a new antivirus scanning engine. The 5000 series engine is the core mal-ware detection and repair component for much of McAfee's security software product line up. The beta schedule begins with Beta 1 in early April and concludes with a release to the Web in September.
Some promised changes include elevated protection against current, new and future threats; faster scanning without sacrificing detection rates; and "drop-in" compatibility with existing McAfee software. McAfee also intends to improve the engine's automatic identification and removal capabilities. Information on joining the test can be found on the McAfee beta Web site.
McAfee Opens Beta Tests, Readies More
For all of those who cannot get enough unfinished software, McAfee is serving up a host of betas with promises of more to come. Currently, McAfee PortalShield 1.0, Virex 7.6, McAfee Desktop Firewall 8.5 Beta 2 and McAfee NetShield for NetWare 4.6 are immediately available for testing.
McAfee's Beta program manager has told BetaNews to expect a new batch of tests in April including: GroupShield for Microsoft Exchange 6.0.2, SpamKiller for Microsoft Exchange 2.1.2, McAfee Entercept Linux Agent and McAfee Secure Content Management Appliances 4.0. The betas listed above are linked directly to the product homepages.
McAfee Preps Business Anti-Spyware
At the RSA 2005 Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, McAfee unveiled an enterprise software package to combat the growing threat of malware in business.
Anti-Spyware Enterprise is designed to complement McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 7.1 and 8.0i as an extra layer of protection and is centrally managed. The software is suitable for both small-to-medium sized businesses and the enterprise, the company says.
McAfee Granted Firewall Patent
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted software maker McAfee a patent for tracking network events on a computer using a firewall. The patent filing involves tracing the location of an incoming connection and displaying a map showing where the remote system geographically resides.
Specifically, McAfee's patent covers a firewall recording what it calls a "traffic event" into a log file. The log records the time and IP address of the remote system, which is then traced to its origin.
McAfee Digs Google to Protect Customers
McAfee business subsidiary Foundstone Professional Services has unveiled a new version of its SiteDigger software that will draw on index data from Google to trace human-error information vulnerabilities that can inadvertently make personally identifiable data public on the Web.
Enhancements that have been made to the software since the previous edition -- released prior to McAfee's acquisitions of Foundstone -- include increased reporting capabilities and more scanning options.
McAfee Unveils 2005 Security Products
McAfee's 2005 product line has hit the store shelves. According to McAfee, its security solutions have been tweaked to hone in on identity theft, phishing scams, spyware and other malicious threats. The line includes: McAfee VirusScan, McAfee Personal Firewall Plus, McAfee SpamKiller, McAfee AntiSpyware, McAfee QuickClean, McAfee Internet Security Suite and McAfee VirusScan Pro. Products may be purchased online at McAfee.com. Boxed copies are available at participating retail outlets.
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