Press Release: newest version of avast! antivirus released
Prague, Czech Republic - 29th March 2008 - for immediate release – ALWIL Software a.s. is pleased to announce the next major release of avast! antivirus, avast! 4.8.
avast! antivirus 4.8 is a major technology upgrade to the avast! product line, which includes the addition of anti-spyware detection, certified by West Coast Lab’s Checkmark process, and the implementation of anti-rootkit capabilities, all directly from within avast! antivirus.
Eduard Kucera, ALWIL Software a.s. CEO, said of the release, “While only an upgrade of avast!, this version represents a major evolution of the avast! offering to users. Many of our competitors charge extra for anti-spyware or anti-rootkit detection, or don’t add the functionality at all. We don’t think that a partial solution in scanning is a solution at all.” Mr. Kucera continues, “With this upgrade, we have once again shown outstanding innovation in the industry, by adding this functionality to the avast! core scan engine technology.”
avast! antivirus 4.8 is available now for download from www.avast.com and is available in three Editions. For non-commercial home use, avast! Home Edition is available free-of-charge. For commercial deployment avast! Professional Edition and for commercial home deployment avast! Professional Family Pack (available for up to ten computers and one Windows Home Server) can be downloaded for a free trial from www.avast.com, or directly purchased from the product page, or from any authorized avast! reseller.
The more than 50 million current avast! Home Edition or Professional Edition users need only upgrade their software, no need to download again, in most cases this will be fully automatic for most users. Other users can follow the update notification prompt to keep their software up-to-date. All licensed users will receive the program upgrade as part of their subscription (free or paid).
Press Release Ends
Notes to editors:
For press contacts, please email press@avast.com
Terminology Help
Viruses, spyware, rootkits and all forms of malicious software are collectively known as malware (short for malicious software); Malware is sometimes also referred to as “badware”.
About Viruses
A computer virus is a piece of software, usually malicious in nature, that is used to spread itself or other such software from computer to computer. Viruses themselves may cause system damage, loss of valuable data, or be used to install spyware, rootkits or malware onto a vulnerable system.
A key way to prevent virus infection and spreading is to have an up-to-date antivirus solution installed on all computers in a network, and to make sure that all of the latest security patches for the computer operating system are installed. Users should also make sure that they can trust the source of software they are downloading from the internet, as many malware types are installed along with other legitimate-looking software.
About Spyware
Spyware is software that installs on a computer system and is designed to collect information about the computer user, often without their knowledge or consent. This information may result in so-called identity theft, or theft of valuable information (such as bank or credit card details) or proprietary business data.
Much spyware at this time is being used by organized crime, rather than opportunistic lone individuals, as may have been the case in the past.
About Rootkits
Rootkits are programs that install on your system, while keeping themselves, their processes, services and registry keys hidden, to stay invisible to the user. They represent a substantial security risk on home and company networks and are notoriously difficult to find and remove.
Rootkits themselves are normally deployed via another malware infection (such as a Trojan, for instance), and it is therefore highly recommended that computer users have an up-to-date antivirus / anti-spyware system installed and running on their PC. One such system is avast! antivirus 4.8.
About ALWIL Software a.s.
For 20 years, ALWIL Software has produced antivirus products that have been developed into the multi-award winning avast! antivirus product line, making avast! one of the most mature and tested products on the antivirus market. Headquartered in Prague, in the Czech Republic, ALWIL Software develops and markets avast! antivirus products that protect every major operating system platform and every major vulnerable device type. Further details about the company and its products can be found on ALWIL’s corporate website, www.avast.com.
AVAST® is a registered trademark in the United States of America and other countries and is used under exclusive license to ALWIL Software a.s.
About avast! antivirus products
avast! is the multi-award winning antivirus product line from ALWIL Software a.s., which is ICSA Labs certified, and Checkmark certified (for both antivirus and anti-malware). avast! antivirus regularly receives the Virus Bulletin 100% award, for detection of 100% of in-the-wild viruses, and is an SC Awards winning product.
avast! antivirus is in use in around 50 million homes and offices worldwide; is specifically engineered to have low system requirements and to automatically and incrementally update both the program and virus definitions, so that they are always up-to-date.
Twenty Years Of avast! technology
2008 marks the 20th anniversary of avast! technology innovation. Keep visiting our website for special promotions and offers (including prizes) during a whole year of ongoing celebrations to mark this key milestone.
