Webroot, a leading computer security company, just introduced its 2013 update to the SecureAnywhere product line which was the result of a total product revamp. I waited to write about this new product until I had time to discuss it with industry experts and get some details from company executives.
On October 25 Webroot’s CEO, Dick Williams, explained why Webroot decided to make the change to SecureAnywhere one year ago.
“For far too long, people have endured a miserable experience with their PC security,” said Williams in an email. “Security vendors, including Webroot, have expected customers to buy, install, and manage security products by themselves. This industry has been delivering products that are less and less effective against threats from zero-day exploits, social engineering, and other sophisticated techniques we see today. Webroot is taking the misery out of security. SecureAnywhere is the fastest, lightest, and the least demanding – so people are free to do what they want online.”
Jay Foley of IDTIS said that the problem with many anti-virus programs is that consumers have to understand how the product operates and how to set the security features on desktops, laptops, tablet devices and mobile phones, often with different products. “That assumes a level of knowledge higher than many computer users possess. This leads to opening or forwarding malware texts, websites and dangerous files not yet identified by security software.”
Foley added: “Most anti-virus programs provide security programs against known malware threats. Instead of purchasing several platform support programs I like that Webroot covers all devices and offers unique protection against threats that have not even yet been designed, more quickly and effectively than ever before.”
In the first review since its 2013 product release, Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus garnered the PC Magazine Editors’ Choice Award. In his review, lead security analyst Neil Rubenking wrote, “Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus 2013 gives you speedy scanning and excellent malware blocking in a ridiculously small package.”
“Webroot’s solutions work differently than traditional security solutions by focusing on the behavior of files that try to execute on a system regardless of whether or not we have seen that file previously. That means that we provide proactive security through a collection of shields – including a Behavior Shield, a Web Threat Shield, an Identity Shield, an Offline Shield, and a Zero-Day Shield – that provide real-time protection from even previously unknown threats,” said Sarah Wu, Webroot’s Director of Product Management, in answer to how this product differs from others.
According to Rubenking, “Webroot doesn’t use file-based signatures to identify threats; that’s part of why it can be so small. Instead, it examines hundreds of file characteristics and behaviors and checks them against its cloud database. That means it can detect a never-before-seen zero-day threat just as easily as a well-known one.”
Webroot has significantly improved its generic system protection to fight identity-stealing threats, a class of infection which is notoriously difficult for conventional products to detect and combat.
SecureAnywhere automatically blocks these tricky key loggers, screen grabbers, man-in-the-browser attacks, and information-stealing Trojan horse attacks. This extra protection layer works in addition to the anti-malware components of SecureAnywhere, creating a powerful new layer of defense against the most malicious of threats in the same small, lightweight package.
Webroot’s identity protection capabilities are automatically configured to protect a user’s financial data, providing superior protection for file backup, online banking and shopping. You can read more this product and how it compares to other anti-virus programs online.
