Christian Mairoll

Stronger security marks the beginning of 2019 for Emsisoft. In early January we launched Emsisoft Browser Security, our privacy conscious Chrome and Firefox browser extension that blocks access to malicious websites that distribute malware, phishing attacks, and more. Complementing Emsisoft’s proven Surf Protection feature that works on the DNS level, Emsisoft Browser Security runs in your browser’s security context and therefore can check all parts of a website’s URL/address for additional security. In our latest release, we’re happy to announce the addition of the Microsoft Edge browser version of the browser extension! In this month’s release, we’re also featuring a new label in Emsisoft Anti-Malware that shows the status of Emsisoft Browser Security. You’ll find it in the ‘Protection’ menu under ‘Surf Protection’. Emsisoft Anti-Malware Surf Protection Settings When navigating to the ‘Surf Protection’ settings, you’ll also notice that we have consolidated its functionality slightly. For simplicity, we merged the categories Malware, Phishing, PUP and Privacy risks to two main groups of ‘Malicious‘ and ‘Unwanted‘ hosts. Installation of Emsisoft Browser Security Emsisoft Anti-Malware asks you to install the extension as you launch your browser: Emsisoft Anti-Malware asks to install Emsisoft Browser Security Additionally, you can obtain it from the extension stores: Get Emsisoft Browser Security for Chrome Get Emsisoft Browser Security for Firefox Get Emsisoft Browser Security for Edge (new) Users of alternative browsers please refer to our extended Emsisoft Browser Security User Guide for further information. All 2019.1 improvements in a nutshell Emsisoft Anti-Malware New Emsisoft Browser Security extension for Microsoft Edge. New status label for Emsisoft Browser Security in ‘Surf Protection’ settings. Improved support for multiple browser user profiles. Consolidated ‘Surf Protection’ host categories. Improved product activation procedures. Several minor tweaks and fixes. How to obtain the new version As always, so long as you have auto-updates enabled in the software, you will receive the latest version automatically during your regularly scheduled updates, which are hourly by default. New users, please download the full installer from our product pages. Note to Enterprise users: If you have chosen to receive “Delayed” updates in the Update settings for your clients, they will receive the new software version no earlier than 30 days after the regular “Stable” availability. This gives you time to perform internal compatibility tests before a new version gets rolled out to your clients automatically. Have a great and well-protected day! The post New in 2019.1: Improved web browsing protection appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article

The browsers' extension stores manage these updates. We're always submitting the same version to both stores at the same time, but Chrome usually takes a couple of days to approve updates manually. Build .12 should get available for Chrome soon.

“A browser extension that blocks bad websites without compromising your privacy?” What sounds like an attempt to square the circle, actually can be done. Almost all browser extensions that aim to block harmful websites send each visited website to cloud servers that match the exact URL/address with a large database of known bad sites. That comes with the advantage of being able to filter sites very thoroughly on the URL level (different from DNS- or host-based filtering such as available in Emsisoft’s Surf Protection feature), but the big downside of that approach is that the creators of such extensions can basically see all the websites you’re visiting and track you throughout all your online activities. Our development team proves that things can be done in a better, more privacy-conscious way. Emsisoft Browser Security is a brand new extension, currently available for Chrome and Firefox, that not only blocks access to websites that distribute malware, but also prevents phishing attacks that try to steal your passwords. How it works: Instead of sending each full website URL to a cloud server for matching, it only sends a calculated hash value of the domain name of each newly visited site to our servers once and then receives a list of matching patterns that are applied locally on your computer. Those patterns are then kept for successive visits of pages on the same host/domain, which not only speeds up the matching significantly, but also means that Emsisoft doesn’t know any of the details of your browsing activity. Emsisoft Browser Security for Chrome blocked a malware site. Emsisoft Browser Security for Chrome toolbar popup. Installation of Emsisoft Browser Security Emsisoft Browser Security works independently of Emsisoft Anti-Malware and can be obtained free of charge from the extension stores: Get Emsisoft Browser Security for Chrome Get Emsisoft Browser Security for Firefox We’re working on making the extension available for Edge users too. Emsisoft Anti-Malware asks you to install the extension if it’s missing. All 2018.12 improvements in a nutshell Emsisoft Anti-Malware New Emsisoft Browser Security extension. Improved stability and compatibility. Improved vulnerability resilience. Improved product activation. Several minor tweaks and fixes. How to obtain the new version As always, so long as you have auto-updates enabled in the software, you will receive the latest version automatically during your regularly scheduled updates, which are hourly by default. New users, please download the full installer from our product pages. Note to Enterprise users: If you have chosen to receive “Delayed” updates in the Update settings for your clients, they will receive the new software version no earlier than 30 days after the regular “Stable” availability. This gives you time to perform internal compatibility tests before a new version gets rolled out to your clients automatically. Have a great and well-protected day! The post New in 2018.12: Safe web-browsing with Emsisoft Browser Security appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article

Independent antivirus software testing group Virus Bulletin has released the results of its latest VB100 certification tests. We’re happy to announce that Emsisoft Anti-Malware has once again aced the tests and been awarded VB100 certification! Testing Virus Bulletin has been performing the VB100 tests for 20 years. Software that has been granted VB100 certification can be considered to have met a certain standard of quality in regard to malware detection. The December 2018 tests were performed on physical computers or virtual machines with specifications similar to those you would find in a business setting. The security products were installed on clean, dedicated instances of Windows 7 and Windows 10, before being exposed to a wide range of malicious and clean samples. The samples were taken from the following sets of malicious files: WildList set: A set of a few thousand well-vetted malicious files that researchers have seen recently in the wild. AMTSO RTTL set: A set of malware samples collected by experts and managed by the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization. The Diversity set: A set of malware samples collected by Virus Bulletin. Security products were exposed to a subset of 100,000 non-malicious files taken from a clean set of approximately 400,000 clean files taken from popular software downloads. To be awarded VB100 certification, a product had to detect at least 99.95 percent of all malicious samples and generate no more than 0.01 percent false positives. Emsisoft Anti-Malware passes VB100 certification with flying colors We’re delighted to report that Emsisoft Anti-Malware passed the latest round of testing with flying colors. Our flagship software detected 100 percent of the 3,091 malware samples used in testing and produced zero false positives, resulting in Emsisoft Anti-Malware being awarded VB100 certification. We’re always delighted to see our software performing well in test conditions. We’ll continue to do everything we can to provide Emsisoft customers with the best malware protection possible. To read the full report, click here. Have a great (malware-free) day! About Virus Bulletin Headquartered in the UK, Virus Bulletin is an independent certification body that provides consumers with key insights into the detection capabilities of antivirus software. A product that has been awarded VB100 certification can generally be trusted to be capable of identifying modern malware threats without producing excessive false positives. The post Emsisoft Anti-Malware awarded VB100 certification in December 2018 Virus Bulletin tests appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article

Our development team spent the last month primarily on implementing minor improvements on the user interface. An improvement we’re particularly excited to share is the new login feature for license activation — instead of typing the rather cryptic license key, you now also have the option to simply log in with your Emsisoft user account to activate your license. All 2018.11 improvements in a nutshell Emsisoft Anti-Malware New login feature to activate licenses. Improved support for tab stops (keyboard-based navigation). Improved support for screen readers for the visually impaired. Improved stability and compatibility. Several minor tweaks and fixes. How to obtain the new version As always, so long as you have auto-updates enabled in the software, you will receive the latest version automatically during your regularly scheduled updates, which are hourly by default. New users, please download the full installer from our product pages. Note to Enterprise users: If you have chosen to receive “Delayed” updates in the Update settings for your clients, they will receive the new software version no earlier than 30 days after the regular “Stable” availability. This gives you time to perform internal compatibility tests before a new version gets rolled out to your clients automatically. Have a great and well-protected day! The post New in 2018.11: User interface improvements appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article

Remote working is all the rage in 2018, with both startups and enterprises increasingly embracing the flexibility that comes with a location-independent workforce. In fact, about 2.9 percent of the total U.S. workforce works from home at least half the time, according to figures from FlexJobs. Of course, remote working hasn’t always been so popular. In fact, 15 years ago, it was practically unheard of. But that didn’t stop Emsisoft Founder and CEO Christian Mairoll from assembling a team of talent handpicked from around the planet to create the world’s first all-remote antivirus company back in 2003. Emsisoft continues to operate as a fully remote company to this day. In celebration of Emsisoft’s 15th anniversary, we sat down with Christian to pick his brains and find out what he’s learned about running an all-remote company over the past 15 years. We’re also running a special promotion: for the next 10 days, you can get a one-year license of Emsisoft Anti-Malware Home for just $15! Why did Emsisoft start out all-remote and why has it stayed that way? When I founded Emsisoft in 2003, it was just me in Austria and a software development partner in Germany. We quickly realized that we couldn’t do all the work by ourselves, so we decided to expand the team in order to continue to grow as a company. I personally never liked the idea of asking banks or investors for money as I wanted to maintain the highest level of independence. Due to our very limited income at the time, we didn’t have many options for hiring staff, and hiring in Europe or the U.S. was totally unthinkable from a financial perspective. Then we found a website called rentacoder.com (later acquired by freelancer.com), which allowed employers to post development projects that could be bid on publicly by freelance developers. Our first hire was a software developer from the middle of Siberia, Russia. He lived in a region where the maximum he could have earned locally was about $300 a month for a full-time role. Guess how excited he was when we offered him a salary that was multitudes higher (yet still a fraction of the cost of hiring a developer in Europe)? That initial hire helped us get the business off the ground without requiring any external funding. What was originally a financially driven necessity turned into a viable business concept that played an important part in our growth. Fast forward to today, and we are no longer limited to hiring in lower income regions (although we occasionally still do). Hiring from anywhere and everywhere allows us to access the best talent on the planet. How do you get good people without a face-to-face interview? I don’t think the process is much different from hiring face to face. First, we review applications to find candidates with skills that match our requirements. Next, we send the best candidates a short list of specific questions pertaining to their area of expertise. Those who provide the best answers are invited for an interview, which typically happens on Skype text chat. You might think that a lot of people’s personality gets lost in text chats, but I actually see that as an advantage. It helps me rate candidates more objectively based on their skills. Gender, age, race, beliefs, physical handicaps, or location – they play no role at all in my hiring process. There’s probably also some intuition at play. Whether an interview takes place over text or face to face, I think you can learn to read between the lines of what someone’s saying and get a sense of how they’ll fit into the team. I’m usually able to tell within just a few sentences if someone fits our team culture and is suitable for remote work in general. In most cases, it’s quite obvious if someone feels at home working remotely or expects old-school working environments. Have you met your employees in person? Of our 40 team members, I have only met seven in person so far. I haven’t met half of our top-level management team, yet I know I can trust them and see them as close friends, too. I hope we will be able to have a large team meeting at some point in the future. How does Emsisoft communicate? What tools do you use? We use a few different tools. Slack for one-on-one conversations and team meetings, a ticket system for project management, and email for when third parties are involved in conversations. We generally try to avoid phones and video conferencing, as these communication methods don’t provide logs for looking up information later, making them much more difficult to review for anyone who missed the meeting. I also consider them inefficient as they require your full attention for the whole time, unlike text-based communication where it’s possible to type out a quick reply in a different chat window without losing track of the meeting. Each of our teams (Lab, Product Development, Web Development, Testing, Support, Marketing, and Sales) has their own Slack channels where daily standups, weekly status updates and monthly strategy meetings are held. Anyone in the wider Emsisoft team can participate in the channels, and we encourage cross-department conversations to strengthen the bond between the teams. Guests from other teams are asked to not interfere while team meetings are ongoing, just like you would expect guests in an office building to be unobtrusive when entering a meeting room. How does being all-remote impact team dynamics? We are organized in smaller teams of 4-10 people and each team has developed their very own dynamics for different reasons. For example, our largest team is the research lab, which is a mixed bunch of folk from eight countries spanning Western Europe to South East Asia. Despite coming from very different cultural backgrounds and living in time zones six hours apart, that team has created the strongest internal bond between its members, who sometimes “meet” out of work hours for online games. English is generally the language of choice, but some teams that are mostly made up of members who speak the same language have established internal Slack channels to increase communication speed and efficiency. Are there disadvantages to not getting face time with your team? The social component gets cut a bit short at times. Everyone’s focused on working efficiently and there’s not much time for unnecessary fluff, so things can get a bit impersonal if people don’t pay attention to the fact that their colleagues are real humans as well. I think it takes slightly more effort in team building to establish strong team bonds over the internet, but I don’t see it as a major blocker at all. Some of us – including myself – occasionally work from nearby coworking spaces to maintain social contacts with like-minded people. How are conflicts/disputes resolved? You’re always going to get different opinions when working in a larger team. We generally try to consider all arguments and then decide on what’s objectively most likely to be the best decision based on the facts we have available to us. Documenting big strategic decisions helps the whole team understand why the decision was made and ensures everyone pulls in the same direction moving forward. What are the pros of being an all-remote company? From the company’s side of things, one of the biggest benefits is that we’re not dependent on available skills in a specific region. We can select from a much larger worldwide pool of candidates to find the people that best match our requirements. It’s also much easier for us to hire locals for roles that require native speakers, such as positions in Sales, Marketing and Customer Support. In addition, having staff around the world means we can better serve our customers across different time zones. We’re pretty much available 24/7. Emsisoft never sleeps. From an employee perspective, the benefits mostly revolve around the flexibility. People don’t need to relocate for their careers, and it’s amazing being able to eliminate the daily commute, which saves a lot of time and money. With the exception of attending team meetings, Emsisoft employees are mostly free to schedule their own working hours, which provides a very high level of personal freedom and work-life balance. Remote working also allows employees to travel and explore the world without sacrificing their careers. I myself grew up in Austria and moved to New Zealand four years ago. I couldn’t have done that with a locally bound company. Almost half of our team members live in a different country to the one in which they grew up. Digital nomads, so to speak. What are the cons of being an all-remote company? The biggest con is obvious: it’s almost impossible to get the whole team physically together in one place since we are literally spread across the entire globe. In fact, one team member recently moved to Antarctica! Regional cultural differences can also pose a challenge, but I think it would be unfair to put all people of a specific region in the same box. My own experience shows that you can find talent in any part of the world. What’s been the biggest challenge? The language barrier can be a problem at times. It’s easy to have a day of work go to waste due to miscommunication, but the fact that we almost exclusively use text chats and tickets has helped us overcome most language issues. For most people, spoken English is much more difficult to learn than written English. A missed word in a phone conversation could mean losing a piece of a vital information, while a written word can be quickly clarified or translated online. Establishing a high-trust relationship with new team members can be challenging during times of fast growth, as we can’t spend as much time nurturing each individual as much as we would like. Our hires are ultimately based on trust; we don’t monitor each and every move our team members make (although we do use online time-tracking tools to record work hours for payroll purposes). What makes a good remote worker? I think the most important skill is self-management. You need to be able to get things done, even if there is no immediate supervision or pressure from your team. There’s definitely the potential to lose focus and motivation when working from home. I think the best way to avoid drifting off mentally is to establish a routine and make sure your work never gets boring. Time management isn’t just about being able to get your work done on time – it includes establishing a healthy work-life balance. The line between workplace and living room is often as thin as the edge of the work desk, which sometimes makes it difficult to leave the work stuff behind, especially on weekends. Many of our team members identify very strongly with their work. It’s not just what they do for a living – it’s their passion and a big part of their identity – which can make it difficult for them to put their work down. What are the pros and cons of being organizationally flat? I think in today’s online era, there’s no more space for steep organizational hierarchies. I have never seen my team members as subordinates or people who are lower in any way. We couldn’t do what we do without those who manage, develop, test, sell, market and support the product. I myself still enjoy being on the frontlines at times, answering customer questions or responding to constructive feedback, especially if it challenges me or the business to get better. At the end of the day, I just happen to be the one who pays the cheques, but I’m no more or less important than anyone else. Mutual respect is the foundation of the team, and those who have the strongest knowledge and experience in a specific field are typically those who are trusted to make the right calls when it comes to strategic decisions. What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs who might be thinking about taking their business remote? Do it fully or don’t do it at all. I don’t think a team can successfully emerge as a remote business if they only implement remote work partially or perceive it as an add-on to an existing local office, as it would create too much friction between worlds. Remote work requires a bit of a different approach, which ideally comes from the leaders and not from outsourcing the cheapest labor jobs. In fact, I think entrepreneurs should avoid seeing remote work as “outsourcing” in general. “Outsourcing” implies that remote workers exist outside the core of the business. At Emsisoft, we have never even considered outsourcing to low-cost agencies in developing nations because it would collide with our business principles and our aim of providing the best possible customer support in the antivirus industry. Any predictions about the future of remote working? I think the era of hearing a lot of oohs and aahs when talking about running a remote business will soon end. Remote working is becoming a normal thing, and I assume that almost all newly founded startups will operate that way. We’ve already seen the success of much larger remote-only organizations such as Automattic (the makers of WordPress), which is made of up about 800 employees. Companies like this are clear proof that a remote-only structure is sustainable and not limited to small teams. Remote working opens up all sorts of possibilities for achieving a better work-life balance. Increasingly, people are asking themselves: Why do I waste hours on my daily commute? Why do I have to be separated from my family for 80 percent of the time I’m awake? And the answer to both questions is: you don’t have to. Remote working is a win-win situation. Remote workers aren’t forced to make the impossible trade-off of sacrificing their personal lives for their careers, while companies can source the best talent from around the world without geographical restrictions. As we celebrate our 15th anniversary, I’m proud to say that Emsisoft is living proof that all-remote is a viable, effective and sustainable business model. The post What I’ve learned about running an all-remote company during 15-years as the CEO of the world’s first all-remote AV company appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article

Could you please post a screenshot of the problem? Thanks!

The year is 2003. Finding Nemo is making a splash on the big screen, Arnold Schwarzenegger is about to be elected governor of California and a little-known company by the name of Emsisoft has just been born. Fast forward to today, and it’s clear a lot has changed. As a company, we’ve continued to evolve while staying true to our original values: providing great customer service and quality malware protection. In celebration of our 15th anniversary, join us for a walk down memory lane as we take a look back at how Emsisoft has grown and what we’ve accomplished over the years. We’re also running a very special $15 for 15 promotion – for the next 15 days, you can get a one-year license of Emsisoft Anti-Malware for just $15! 2003-2007: Genesis 2003, the year it all began. Emsisoft is founded in Austria and the company’s very first product is released in the form of a² Personal (a-squared), a malware scanner that sports a very early noughties design (in the words of Emsisoft Founder Christian Mairoll: “What was I thinking!”). In 2005, Emsisoft introduces the Behavior Blocker Module, an ahead of its time technology that blocks malware based on behavioral patterns rather than relying on signatures alone. 2008-2010: The evolution begins In 2008, Emsisoft makes waves in the antivirus world by releasing the first free dual-engine virus scanner. Meanwhile, a-squared’s UI has evolved noticeably over the years, and the main Security Status menu now offers more configuration options than you can shake a stick at. 2010-2012: They grow up so fast In 2010, we bid goodbye to the a-squared brand. The software is now known by the name we have all come to love: Emsisoft Anti-Malware. 2010 also marks the release of the Emsisoft Emergency Kit and is the year in which we receive our very first VB100 award! 2013-2015: A glimpse of the future The UI continues to get cleaner and Emsisoft rolls out an exciting new product. In 2013, Emsisoft Anti-Malware takes part in the AV-Comparatives Real-World Protection Test for the first time and walks away with a perfect score by preventing 100 percent of infections. In 2014, Emsisoft releases Emsisoft Mobile Security to counter the growing threat of mobile malware. Later in 2014, the UI receives a major facelift to make the software more intuitive. Under the hood, Emsisoft Anti-Malware is faster and more effective than ever before. 2016-2017: The teenage years Emsisoft Anti-Malware continues to evolve as ransomware takes the world by storm. In 2016, Emsisoft receives its first AV-TEST seal, releases the first version of the Emsisoft Anti-Malware enterprise console and joins the No More Ransom Initiative. 2016 is also the year in which frustrated malware authors bestow the highest honor upon Emsisoft CTO Fabian by naming a strain of ransomware named after him: Fabiansomware. 2018 and beyond And that brings us to the present day. Today, Emsisoft Anti-Malware is a powerful, efficient antivirus solution wrapped up in a beautiful UI and supported by the most committed customer service team you’ll find in the industry. We’ve come a long way over the past 15 years, evolving from a simple anti-trojan tool to one of the most trusted antivirus products on the market. We’re proud of our history, our story, and our achievements, and we’re excited for what the future holds. Thank you for being part of our journey. We couldn’t do it without you. To celebrate our 15th anniversary, we’re running a very special promotion. For the next 15 days, you can get a one-year license of Emsisoft Anti-Malware for just $15! The post From an anti-trojan tool to a full anti-malware solution: 15 years of Emsisoft Anti-Malware appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article

We like to keep things simple. Avoiding unnecessary complexity is said to be the foundation of great product usability and user experience. In the past, Emsisoft offered a series of standalone products, each with their own licensing options, such as protection for desktops, servers, and mobile devices. That system was fine, but ultimately we want to provide outstanding protection across the board, regardless of the devices you use. That’s why we’ve extended our licensing from single product licenses to license plans that cover multiple target platforms at once. What this means for you in detail: New Emsisoft Home plans Emsisoft Anti-Malware Home – US $29.99 annually Our well-known and long-term proven protection solution. Available in license packs of 1, 3 and 5 Windows computers. Emsisoft Anti-Malware Home & Mobile – US $39.99 annually Same as the Emsisoft Anti-Malware Home plan, but also allows you to protect your Windows and Android devices. Each Windows license purchased adds one more license for Android. New Emsisoft Business plans Emsisoft Business Security – US $19.99 annually Complete protection for Windows desktops. Starting at 3 devices with extra volume discounts at 25, 50 and 100 units. For 249 devices and more, please get in touch with our sales team. Emsisoft Enterprise Security – US $29.99 annually Protects all your Windows endpoints. Licenses can be used on both desktop and server editions of Windows. Please also note our discounts for 2- and 3-year subscriptions, as well as our educational prices. More details on our pricing page. All 2018.10 improvements in a nutshell Emsisoft Anti-Malware New Home and Business license plans. Improved stability and compatibility. Several minor tweaks and fixes. Emsisoft Enterprise Console Several minor tweaks and fixes. How to obtain the new version As always, so long as you have auto-updates enabled in the software, you will receive the latest version automatically during your regularly scheduled updates, which are hourly by default. New users, please download the full installer from our product pages. Note to Enterprise users: If you have chosen to receive “Delayed” updates in the Update settings for your clients, they will receive the new software version no earlier than 30 days after the regular “Stable” availability. This gives you time to perform internal compatibility tests before a new version gets rolled out to your clients automatically. Have a great and well-protected day! The post New in 2018.10: New Home and Business license plans appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article

Virus Bulletin is an organization that provides users with independent insight into the capabilities of endpoint security products. The group recently released the results of its latest VB100 certification tests, and we’re happy to announce that Emsisoft Anti-Malware once again aced the test and was consequently awarded VB100 certification. What’s involved with the VB100 test? The VB100 award is a certification given to security products that are able to provide a strong baseline of protection. The October 2018 tests were performed on physical computers or virtual machines with specifications typical of those you would find in an office. Each test was performed on two different systems, one running Windows 7 and the other running Windows 10. Each security product was tested using malicious samples gathered from: The WildList set: a set of a few thousand carefully screened malware samples that have been observed in the wild by researchers. AMTSO Real Time Threat List set: a feed of new samples taken from a repository of malware samples managed by the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization. The Diversity set: a set of malware samples sent in from third parties and collected by Virus Bulletin. The tests also involved analyzing approximately 100,000 non-malicious files taken from a set of 400,000 clean files harvested from popular software downloads. To be awarded VB100 certification, a product had to detect at least 99.95 percent of malware samples and generate no more than 0.01 percent false positives. Emsisoft Anti-Malware awarded VB100 certification We’re pleased to report that Emsisoft Anti-Malware passed with flying colors, detecting 100 percent of the 1,580 samples used in the Certification test and generating 0 false positives. Emsisoft Anti-Malware also detected 99.64 percent of samples used in the Diversity test, although this was not part of the certification criteria. We’re proud to see our software performing well in test conditions, and we’ll continue working to provide our customers with the best malware protection on the planet. Click here to see the report in full. Have a great (malware-free) day! About Virus Bulletin Virus Bulletin is a respected name in the malware industry. Headquartered in the UK, the organization is dedicated to providing independent security information and testing the capabilities of security products. VB100 certification indicates that a product is generally capable of detecting modern malware threats without generating many false positives. The post Emsisoft Anti-Malware awarded VB100 certification in October 2018 test appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article

Independent security software testing group AV-Comparatives recently released the results of its Malware Protection Test September 2018, an evaluation designed to assess a product’s ability to protect a system against malware infection. We’re happy to announce that Emsisoft Anti-Malware delivered robust protection and generated few false positives, which ultimately saw us receive the Advanced+ Award! What is the Malware Protection Test? To conduct the test, AV-Comparatives compiled a test set of 11,890 recent malware samples. All security products were installed on a fully up-to-date 64-Bit Microsoft Windows 10 Pro RS4 system, and tested using default settings with all updates installed. Previous AV-Comparatives tests have focused on whether a product could detect a threat before the malware was executed. The most recent test was slightly different in that it tested a product’s overall ability to prevent malware from making changes to a system, regardless of whether it intercepted the threat before, during or after execution. This allowed AV-Comparatives to more accurately measure the protection capabilities of antivirus software that uses behavioral detection to block malicious changes to a system. Emsisoft Anti-Malware awarded Advanced+ rating We were proud to see that Emsisoft Anti-Malware blocked 99.95 percent of all tested malware samples and generated just 10 false positives. Based on these results, Emsisoft Anti-Malware was awarded the Advanced+ rating, the highest award possible! We’re delighted to see our software produce great results in tough testing conditions. As always, it’s wonderful to receive recognition for our efforts, but the real reward comes from doing our part to help make the digital world a safer place. The Result of the AV-Comparatives Malware Protection – File Detection Test with Execution including false alarm test About AV-Comparatives Founded in 1999, AV-Comparatives is an independent organization that specializes in testing security software. The group regularly releases reports that provide valuable insight into the protection capabilities of antivirus products. AV-Comparatives certification indicates that a product can generally be trusted to provide a decent standard of protection. Click here (opens PDF) to read the Malware Protection Test September 2018 in full. Have a great (malware-free) day! The post Emsisoft Anti-Malware receives Advanced+ Award in latest AV-Comparatives test appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article

Kurzes Update zum Thema Datenschutzerklaerung: Wir haben das ganze Dokument nun mit weiterfuehrenden Informationen ergaenzt und gehen am Ende im Bereich Haeufige Fragen auf einige Punkte noch gesondert ein: https://www.emsisoft.com/de/company/privacy/

Over the last couple of months, our research and development team has created a new technical foundation for Emsisoft Anti-Malware’s Surf Protection to make it more robust and compatible with the latest changes in common web browsers. Microsoft Edge is now fully supported and we also made some changes to stop Chrome incorrectly flagging our software as incompatible – without making any compromises on the level of protection provided to you. The latest software release also adds a brand new and long-awaited Dark Mode, which changes the whole software to a dark color theme. You might find this new screen contrast gentler on your eyes, particularly if you mostly use your computer at night. It also helps slightly reduce the drain on laptop batteries. To switch to Dark Mode, open the Settings panel and go to the “Advanced” section where you will find “Appearance” which you can change from “Bright” to “Dark”. All 2018.9 improvements in a nutshell Emsisoft Anti-Malware New Dark Mode. Improved Surf Protection compatibility. Several minor tweaks and fixes. Emsisoft Enterprise Console Several minor tweaks and fixes. How to obtain the new version As always, so long as you have auto-updates enabled in the software, you will receive the latest version automatically during your regularly scheduled updates, which are hourly by default. New users, please download the full installer from our product pages. Note to Enterprise users: If you have chosen to receive “Delayed” updates in the Update settings for your clients, they will receive the new software version no earlier than 30 days after the regular “Stable” availability. This gives you time to perform internal compatibility tests before a new version gets rolled out to your clients automatically. Have a great and well-protected day! The post New in 2018.9: Improved Surf Protection and New Dark Mode appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article

Independent security informational portal and antivirus software testing group Virus Bulletin have released the results of their latest round of VB100 certification tests. We’re delighted to report that Emsisoft Anti-Malware has once again achieved a perfect score and successfully earned certification! What is the VB100 all about? The VB100 is a certification system with a history spanning 20 years. Essentially, it reveals whether an antivirus product can perform the core function of identifying threats without generating false positives. In the latest round of testing, all security products were installed on physical computers or virtual machines running a fresh instance of Windows 7 and Windows 10. The products were then exposed to malicious samples taken from: The WildList set: a set of malware samples that have been recently observed in the wild by researchers and collected by the WildList Organization. The Real-Time Threat List: a continuous feed of new malware samples collected by experts and managed by the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization. The Diversity set: a set of recently seen malware collected by Virus Bulletin. The antivirus products also scanned a clean set of about 100,000 non-malicious files taken from popular software downloads. The tests were repeated three times over the course of a few days, using the same set of samples each time. Internet access was allowed throughout the testing period. To achieve VB100 certification, a product had to detect at least 99.5 percent of the malware samples and generate fewer than 0.01 percent false positives. Drum roll, please… We’re proud to announce that Emsisoft Anti-Malware achieved a perfect score, detecting 100 percent of the 990 malware samples involved in testing and generating 0 false positives. Emsisoft Anti-Malware also scored a 100 percent detection rate in the supplementary Diversity Test, which is not part of the certification criteria. We’re not in it for the accolades, but we are proud to see our software performing so well in a testing environment. We’ll continue working on providing the best antivirus software possible to protect our customers against both known and emerging digital threats. You can check out some of the other security awards we’ve won in the past here. Have a wonderful (malware-free) day! About Virus Bulletin Headquartered in the UK, Virus Bulletin is an independent IT software testing group that provides consumers with valuable information about antivirus products. A product that earns VB100 certification can be considered to have met a certain standard of quality and can generally be trusted to provide a reasonable level of malware protection. The post Emsisoft Anti-Malware Earns VB100 Certification for August 2018 appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article

Die genannten IPs sind ziemlich sicher unsere Update Hosts. HWCDN steht fuer Highwinds/Stackpath CDN. Das sind letztlich Mirror Server die die Update Downloads ausliefern. Highwinds hat tausender solcher Server bei allen moeglichen ISPs um den jeweils kuerzesten Download-Weg zu garantieren. Die IPs sind entsprechend fuer jeden Benutzer der Sofware andere, je nach Standort. Das gleiche Prinzip kommt auch bei unserer Website zum Tragen, jedoch wird diese ueber Cloudflare ausgeliefert.

Auch hier ist wieder das leidige Thema 'Es kommt darauf an'. Was auch der Grund ist, warum jegliche Angaben in einer Datenschutzerklaerung nie als absolute Werte verstanden werden sollten, sondern als relative, um einen groben Ueberblick zu erhalten. Um alles im Detail zu erklaeren, wuerden wir Buecher fuellen koennen und dennoch waere es nie 100% vollstaendig und jemand koennte uns problemlos auf ein Fehlverhalten festnageln, wie Sie es hier mit uns machen. Beispiele: Ein angegebener Name kann ein echter sein, oder ein fiktiver. Da es haeufig idente Namen gibt, laesst sich nicht automatisch sagen, dass man ueber den Namen eine Person ermitteln kann. Selbst wenn es ein eindeutiger und echter Name ist, benoetigt man weitere Daten und vor allem Mithilfe von Dritten, um daraus eine Identitaet zu ermitteln. Aehnlich bei der IP Adresse: Sofern eine IP nicht im globalen Adressregister einer bestimmten Person zugeordnet ist (was sie in der Regel nicht ist), laesst sich darueber keine Identitaet feststellen sondern maximal der Internet Service Provider. Damit dieser Ihre Daten herausgibt, muss es in der Regel einen gerichtlichen Beschluss dafuer geben. Wobei hier wieder nach unterschiedlichen Legislativen unterschieden werden muss. Ich will das Thema hier nicht herunterspielen, aber die Moeglichkeiten die wir durch Ihre Daten haben (selbst wenn diese alle zusammengefuehrt werden), sind letztlich nur ein Bruchteil dessen, was Firmen wie Google potenziell machen koennen. Allein Ihr Telefon zeichnet vermutlich laufend auf den Meter genaue Standortdaten auf, ueber die sich Ihre Wohn- und Arbeits-Anschriften sehr exakt ermitteln lassen. Es braucht dann nicht mehr viel Kreativitaet, um daraus Ihre Identiaet festzustellen. Dafuer muss man noch nicht mal irgendwelche Dateien von Ihrem Computer uebertragen oder Ihre Surfgewohnheiten aufzeichnen (Stichwort Social Media Buttons auf Webseiten). Zum Thema Notwendigkeit von Daten: Wir sind ein Datenverarbeitungsunternehmen, entsprechend, ja, sind Daten fuer unser Ueberleben notwendig. In vielen Faellen gaebe es Wege, weniger Daten aufzuzeichnen, aber daraus entstuenden Wettbewerbsnachteile. In Summe tragen viele kleine Abstriche dann dazu bei, dass wir uns am Markt weniger gut behaupten koennen als jene Firmen, denen der ganze Datenschutz komplett egal ist. Es ist daher immer eine Kompromissloesung fuer beide Seiten, Anbieter und Benutzer. Was ich Ihnen als Geschaeftsfuehrer von Emsisoft anbieten kann ist letztlich mein Versprechen, dass wir versuchen mit Ihren Daten keinen Mist zu bauen und Sie im Extremfall keinem unnoetigen Risiko auszusetzen. Garantie ist das keine, aber die kann Ihnen auch sonst niemand geben fuerchte ich, egal wie umfangreich oder beschwichtigend eine Datenschutzerklaerung geschrieben ist.

Der Aussage, dass jeder Kaeufer automatisch ein eindeutig zuweisbarer Benutzer ist, wuerde ich widersprechen. Ein grosser Teil unserer Benutzer kaufen ueber unser Haendlernetzwerk. Haendler erhalten von uns nur anonyme Lizenzgutscheine, die erst bei der ersten Aktivierung in der Software zu Lizenzen werden. Dh. von diesen Benutzern wissen wir ausser der Hardware-ID und der IP gar nichts. Diese allein geben uns aber keine Moeglichkeit, Ihre Identitaet ausfindig zu machen. Selbst wenn Sie Ihre Lizenz mit einem Benutzerkonto registrieren, koennen diese Daten (Name und Email) auch fiktiv sein bzw. erlauben keine Rueckschluesse auf die Identitaet. Selbst bei Bestellungen in unserem Online-Shop verhaelt es sich aehnlich. Wir erhalten nur den von Ihnen angegebenen Namen und die Email Adresse, die aber beide fiktiv sein koennen. Die Zahlungsdaten (Kreditkarte, PayPal Adresse, etc) werden uns vom Zahlungsabwickler nicht zur Verfuegung gestellt. Wozu auch, wir wollen diese Daten ja gar nicht, da sie nur unnoetiges Risiko im Bezug auf potenzielle Hacks bedeuten wuerden. Wir versuchen generell, so wenig sensible Daten wie moeglich zu speichern, da wir immer davon ausgehen muessen, dass unsere Datenbanken irgendwann potenziell geklaut werden. Gerade als relativ kleines Unternehmen koennen wir uns Datenskandale, wie sie einige grosse Firmen (Linkedin, Yahoo, Ebay, Uber, Sony, Adobe, etc) in den letzten Jahren vorgemacht haben, definitiv nicht leisten. Siehe https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites

Werden Produkt-Nutzungsdaten gesammelt? Wenn ja, welche? Werden diese Daten anonymisiert? Ja. Jedes Software Update wird serverseitig zur genutzte Lizenz protokolliert und kann auch via MyEmsisoft abgefragt werden. Jeder Scan, der Malware findet, loest eine Cloud-Abfrage auf potenzielle Fehlalarme aus, Hash-basiert. Die Namen von Malware Funden werden fuer statistische Zwecke eingesandt. Zum Schutz unserer Infrastruktur wird eine eindeutige Hardware-ID mitgeschickt, mit der jede Installation theoretisch eindeutig zugewiesen werden kann. Insofern ist es by design nicht anonym. Wird der Windows-Benutzername übertragen? Wenn ja, zu welchem Zweck? Nein. Es sei denn Sie senden uns explizit Debug-Logs die potenziell Ihren User Profilordner enthalten. Wird der Computername übertragen? Wenn ja, zu welchem Zweck? Ja, zur Darstellung in MyEmsisoft, damit man als Benutzer erkennen kann, welche Lizenz auf welchem Rechner eingesetzt wird. Werden Informationen zu laufenden Prozessen bzw. anderen Programmen gesammelt und analysiert? Werden diese Informationen anonymisiert? Nein. Malware Funde werden jedoch wie oben beschrieben online gegengeprueft. In welchen Fällen wird die lokale IP-Adresse abgefragt und welche zusätzlichen Informationen können prinzipiell mit der aufgezeichneten lokalen IP-Adresse verknüpft sein? Da die IP Adresse den Kommunikations-Endpunkt zwischen Ihrem Rechner und unserem Server darstellt, gibt es keine technische Moeglichkeit, die IP Adresse nicht zu erfassen. Sie ist ein notwendiger Teil der Kommunikation. Die Frage ist wie wenn Sie bei der Post fragen, ob ihre Hausnummer und Strasse abgefragt wird um einen Brief zuzustellen. Ja, natuerlich. Technisch koennen daher letztlich alle uebertragenen Informationen dadurch verknuepft werden. Wird der Besuch von Websites (z.B. URLs, Host-Adresse) protokolliert? Werden diese Daten anonymisiert gesammelt? Nein. Die Domainnamen von falsch geblockten Webseiten werden jedoch online gegengeprueft. Ebenso werden manuelle Aenderungen von Ihnen eingesandt um potenzielle Fehler zu beheben. Falls Dateien übertragen werden, werden auch Textdokumente (z.B .doc), pdf-Dokumente (.pdf) oder Bilddateien (z.B. .gif, .jpeg) -also sogenannte nicht ausführbare Dateien- übertragen? Standardmaessig werden keine Dateien uebertragen, es sei denn Sie senden diese manuell ueber die Quarantaene zur Untersuchung ein. Wird beim Senden von Dateien der Dateipfad erfasst? Wird der im Dateipfad genannte Benutzername entfernt? Beim manuellen Einsenden wird der originale Speicherort der Datei mitgeschickt. Dabei werden keine Daten manipuliert. Wo bzw. in welchem Land werden Kundendaten gespeichert? Deutschland, in Hetzner Rechenzentren auf von uns selbst betriebenen Servern. In welchen Fällen kann der Benutzer das Senden von Informationen (z.B. Dateien, Nutzungsstatistiken, etc.) einschränken/deaktivieren - ohne auf bestimmte Schutzfunktionen verzichten zu müssen? Online Cloud-Abfragen von Malware-Funden koennen in den Einstellungen deaktiviert werden. Unter Umstaenden koennen dadurch aber gelegentlich Fehlalarme auftreten. Ebenso kann das Einsenden von Crash-Reports deaktiviert werden (ohne weitere Auswirkungen, es sei denn wir muessen einen Fehler beheben der nur bei Ihnen auftritt). Das Einsenden von Statistik Daten zu Funden und benutzerdefinierten Anwendungs- und Host-Regeln kann ebenso deaktiviert werden (ohne weitere Auswirkungen). Welche Daten werden von Drittunternehmen verarbeitet? Bestelldaten von unseren Zahlungsabwicklungs-Partnern Cleverbridge und 2Checkout. Benutzerdaten wenn Sie uns eine Supportanfrage schicken von Kayako. Firmenkundendaten von unserem Buchhaltungssystem Xero. Ebenso grundsaetzliche Infrastrukturbetreiber wie in der Datenschutzerklaerung aufgelistet. Diese erhalten jedoch keine persoenlichen Daten im eigentlichen Sinne, sondern mehr oder weniger anonyme Daten (die jedoch teilweise vor der DSGVO als persoenliche Daten eingestuft werden 'koennen'). Prinzipiell: Welche Daten werden anonym erfasst? (Auch: Werden Daten vor dem Senden anonymisiert?) Siehe Vermerk oben zum Thema Hardware-ID. Auch wenn eine Server-Abfrage ansich nur anonyme Daten enthaelt und wir diese Daten nicht zusammenfuehren, gaebe es theoretisch die Moeglichkeit, genau jenes zu machen. Daher ein Nein zu dieser Frage. Prinzipiell: Welche Daten werden als ‚persönlich identifizierbar‘ (Rückschluss auf den Benutzer möglich) erfasst? Was ist Ihre Definition eines 'Benutzers'? Ein echter Name, ein fiktiver Benutzername, eine Email Adresse, eine IP Adresse, eine Hardware-ID Ihres PCs? Je nach Auslegung was ein Benutzer denn eigentlich ist, kann sich die Antwort auf diese Frage gravierend unterscheiden. Prinzipiell: Zu welchem Zweck werden anonyme/persönliche Daten erfasst? Wie werden erfasste Daten genutzt? Zur technischen Bereitstellung und Verbesserung unserer angebotenen Produkte und Dienste. Als Teil der angebotenen Leistungen, wie z.B. die webbasierte Darstellung des Sicherheits-Zustands Ihrer Software Installation, oder um Ihnen Kundensupport bieten zu koennen. Auch Ihre Forum Frage hier faellt in den Bereich persoenliche Daten, auch wenn Sie unter einem Synonym schreiben. Fuer Statistiken die uns bei der Produktplanung helfen.

Sie haben voellig Recht, dass wir uns hier teilweise widersprechen. Zu unserer Verteidigung kann ich derzeit nur sagen, dass der Blog Artikel vor der DSGVO entstanden ist. Wir haben den Abschnitt soeben neu formuliert. Wir werden Ihre Kritik als Anlass nehmen, das Thema Schreibweise der Datenschutzerklaerung intern noch einmal aufzurollen und zu ueberarbeiten. Wir koennten wie von Ihnen vorgeschlagen eine Tabelle oder auch konkrete Erklaerungs-Fussnoten ergaenzen, die erlaeutern, was die einzelnen Abschnitte effektiv bedeuten.

> Klingt fast nach Rundumüberwachung meines Arbeitsplatzes. Sie haben die Absurditaet der Gesetzgebung erfasst. Letztlich zwingt uns die Gesetzeslage, jegliche Eventualitaeten zu beschreiben - unabhaengig davon, ob wir von diesen Moeglichkeiten auch Gebrauch machen oder nicht. Dem Gesetz ist es egal, ob wir letztlich nur die ohnehin oeffentliche IP eines Users erfassen oder den kompletten Inhalt des Dokumentenordners uebertragen. Beide Szenarien wuerden mehr oder weniger die gleiche Beschreibung in der Datenschutzerklaerung erfordern. Es besteht kein Zweifel, dass das Kerngeschaeft von Emsisoft (und allen anderen Antivirenanbietern) die Verarbeitung von Benutzerdaten ist, wie sonst sollte man sie sonst schuetzen koennen? Eine vollstaendige Auflistung aller einzelnen Datenpunkte mitsamt deren Umfang und Verwendungszweck waere logistisch kaum moeglich. Wir muessten alle paar Tage eine neue Version der Datenschutzerklaerung schreiben und jedesmal ein riesen Informations-Prozedere durchlaufen, da die Systeme laufend erweitert und verbessert werden. Der einzige gangbare Weg ist daher, alles so genau wie gesetzlich notwendig, aber so vage wie moeglich zu beschreiben, um fuer alle zukuenftigen Sitatuationen pauschal gewappnet zu sein, ohne ereits mit einem Bein im Gerichtssaal zu stehen. Die Datenschutzerklaerung dient im Grund nur dem eigenen Schutz vor Anwaelten, was auch erklaert, warum sich die Inhalte vieler Firmen kaum unterscheiden. Ob Sie uns als Kunde ihr Vertrauen schenken, dass wir mit Ihren Daten sorgsam umgehen, sollten Sie eher darauf begruenden, wie wir unsere Ethik-Grundsaetze kommunizieren, wie z.B. auf der Ueber-Uns Seite, oder auch wie wir mit unseren Kunden offen kommunizieren und immer klar dazu stehen, dass uns der Schutz der Daten unserer Kunden genauso wichtig ist, wie der unserer eigenen. Um auf Ihre angesprochene Punkte konkret einzugehen: * Uebertragung von Dateidaten: Wenn Sie uns eine suspekte Datei zur Analyse einsenden und wir diese in unserem Labor untersuchen, entspricht das einer Datenverarbeitung persoenlicher Daten im Sinne des Gesetzes. Daher ist der Satz notwendig. Was aber nicht automatisch impliziert, dass wir beliebige Daten von Ihnen ohne Ihr Wissen uebertragen. * Nutzungsdaten und Metadaten: Wir protokollieren z.B., welche Software-Version Sie verwenden und wann sie zuletzt geupdatet haben, da dies fuer unseren Kundensupport wichtig ist und es auch im MyEmsisoft Panel angezeigt wird. Hier handelt es sich in erster Linie um Log-Daten zur Fehleranalyse und Produktverbesserung. Was nicht automatisch impliziert, dass wir genau Sie als Person ausspaehen versuchen (wozu auch?). Hier geht es um Statistiken und allgemeine Trends bei der Verwendung der Software oder Website. * Inhalte und Links: Damit der Surfschutz seine Arbeit machen kann, muss er wissen, welche Internetseiten Sie aufrufen. Das passiert alles nur auf Ihren PC, aber wenn Sie z.B. bei einem blockierten Host auf Erlauben klicken, meldet unsere Software uns das als potenziellen Fehlalarm den wir beheben muessen. Zu keinem Zeitpunkt interessiert es uns, welche Internetseiten Sie als Person aufrufen, aber damit wir Fehler beheben koennen, brauchen wir logischerweise auch das Wissen ueber jene Fehler. Das Antiviren-Geschaeft ist ein Vertrauensgeschaeft. Genauso wie Ihre Bank weiss, wann und wo sie eingekauft haben, wissen Antivirensoftwarehersteller, was auf Ihrem PC vorgeht. Technisch hat jeder Hersteller die Moeglichkeiten, damit umfangreiche Spionage zu betreiben. Ob diese Moeglichkeiten auch verwendet werden, steht aber auf einem ganz anderen Blatt. Diese Information wird auch die beste Datenschutzerklaerung der Welt leider nicht hergeben.

Our release cycle is always like that. When a beta reaches our expected level of quality it becomes a stable build. Beta 4 in particular was just a minor cosmetic change from Beta 3, so our internal tests went through quite quickly.

It’s finally here! Introducing the redesigned Emsisoft Anti-Malware interface. More than just a new look, the updated Emsisoft Anti-Malware interface was redesigned with you in mind. Don’t worry, we kept all the functionalities you know and love, while we made it more user-friendly and upgraded optimization for the latest Windows machines. The menu was moved from the top to the left side. That design pattern follows Microsoft’s new guidelines for Windows and web applications and has become common practice in recent years. It makes better use of wide screens and allows for more flexibility in terms of menu content items. Using the new hamburger button at the left top (three horizontal lines symbol), you can also collapse the menu to a slim icon-only bar to keep it as compact as possible. The new user interface is able to dynamically adapt to your available screen size for optimized readability. You will also notice that all the content panels are now scrolling pages, similar to websites. This particularly improves handling when using touch screens and further blurs the line between desktop and web apps. Dark mode is not in this update, but it’s definitely on top of our to-do list for one of the upcoming releases – stay tuned! The redesigned interface of Emsisoft Anti-Malware 2018.8 All 2018.8 improvements in a nutshell Emsisoft Anti-Malware Moved the main menu from top to left. Redesigned and re-arranged content panels. Improved access to About panel. Several minor tweaks and fixes. Emsisoft Enterprise Console Several minor tweaks and fixes. How to obtain the new version As always, so long as you have auto-updates enabled in the software, you will receive the latest version automatically during your regularly scheduled updates, which are hourly by default. New users, please download the full installer from our product pages. Note to Enterprise users: If you have chosen to receive “Delayed” updates in the Update settings for your clients, they will receive the new software version no earlier than 30 days after the regular “Stable” availability. This gives you time to perform internal compatibility tests before a new version gets rolled out to your clients automatically. Have a great and well-protected day! The post New in 2018.8: Redesigned user interface for improved usability appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article

We are incredibly proud to announce that Emsisoft Emergency Kit was named the Gold Winner of the 2018 Annual Stevie® International Business Award for Best Ransomware Removal Tool. Emsisoft Emergency Kit Ransomware has victimized individual private users, businesses of all sizes, non-profit organizations, and even governments in all levels. Here at Emsisoft, we do our part in helping reduce cybercrime by partnering with organizations such as No More Ransom and providing powerful antivirus and anti-malware solutions such as Emsisoft Emergency Kit. Emsisoft Emergency Kit is a free malware emergency kit that scans and cleans infected computers. It scans the infected PC for Ransomware, Viruses, Trojans, Spyware, Adware, Worms, Keyloggers and other malicious programs. It is also available as Emsisoft Emergency Kit Pro for commercial use. Emsisoft Emergency Kit has once again proven its effectiveness by being named the best Ransomware Removal Tool by a prestigious, international award-giving body. If you’d like to know more about Emsisoft Emergency Kit, go here to get additional information and to download the program for free. The Stevie International Business Award The International Business Awards (IBA) are the world’s premier business awards program. The 2018 IBAs received entries from 74 nations and territories, with more than 3,900 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry. Stevie Award winners were determined by the average scores of more than 270 executives worldwide who participated on 12 juries. To learn more about the Stevie International Business Awards please click here. To see the recent awards Emsisoft has received, click here. Have a great (malware-free) day! The post Emsisoft wins international award for ransomware removal appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article

With this update, you will notice that the default scan level of Emsisoft Anti-Malware’s File Guard will change from the balanced middle option to the fastest option. In previous versions, we had the following scan levels: Fast Balanced (factory default) Thorough With version 2018.7 this changes to: Default (new factory default) Thorough Paranoid We made this change for a good reason, which I would like to elaborate. Behind these three options lie a different technology: OnExecution scans: The first option basically only scans programs when they are getting started. While that keeps your computer free from active infections, downloaded inactive malware files may not be immediately detected. OnModification scans: In addition, this option also scans any files that are newly created, such as downloads, but also any files that are modified by any program. In the past, that was the best method to catch all sorts of downloaded malware and script-/macro-based threats. OnRead scans: In addition, this option also scans any files as they are being read by any program. On a typical PC, there are usually thousands of files being read in the background every minute, so this option naturally slows down the overall performance of your computer quite dramatically. We don’t recommend making use of it, but keep it available for those who want to be absolutely sure everything gets immediately detected without delays. What we changed in 2018.7 is that we enhanced the OnExecution scan in a way that allows third-party programs and the Windows operating system to access our scanner technology too. Microsoft created specific interfaces called IOfficeAntivirus and AMSI that are used by most modern browsers, script interpreters, and Office programs to make sure the documents that are downloaded and opened do not contain any malware. Chrome scanning downloads with Emsisoft Anti-Malware With that being the new standard, we don’t see the need to scan all files during their creation or modification anymore but combine very fast performing OnExecution scans with those new extra scans coming from third-party applications. You can still switch back to the middle option, but we recommend the first “Default” option for best detection and performance. Experience the speed increase by yourself and don’t hesitate to provide us with feedback in the comments below! All 2018.7 improvements in a nutshell Emsisoft Anti-Malware Improved File Guard performance, changed default scan level. Redesigned Protection menu panels. Minor user interface changes. Several minor tweaks and fixes. Emsisoft Enterprise Console Several minor tweaks and fixes. Emsisoft Emergency Kit Several minor tweaks and fixes. How to obtain the new version As always, so long as you have auto-updates enabled in the software, you will receive the latest version automatically during your regularly scheduled updates, which are hourly by default. New users, please download the full installer from our product pages. Note to Enterprise users: If you have chosen to receive “Delayed” updates in the Update settings for your clients, they will receive the new software version no earlier than 30 days after the regular “Stable” availability. This gives you time to perform internal compatibility tests before a new version gets rolled out to your clients automatically. Have a great and well-protected day! The post New in 2018.7: Improved File Guard Performance appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article

Businesses handle high-value data in their day-to-day operations. Employee and customer information and other business data (financial, suppliers, partners, and possibly business secrets as well) are just some of the valuable data processed every single day. A single cyber attack could compromise some or all of this private information and could bring an organization to its knees. Attacks can even leapfrog to attack business partners the way Target was attacked via its HVAC company. This is one of the many reasons why cybersecurity decisions are especially critical for businesses, regardless of size. AV-Comparatives, a widely-recognized, independent AV testing organization recently released its biannual Business Security Test Report after evaluating the antivirus and anti-malware capabilities of the most reputable AV companies in the industry, and we are proud to report that Emsisoft Anti-Malware and Enterprise Console passed all the necessary tests and stringent qualifications to receive the coveted Approved Business Product Award. The Approved Business Product Award The Business Product Award is based on three tests: Real-World Protection Test, Malware Protection Test, and Performance Test. For this round, AV-Comparatives used test results from March to June 2018. Only products scoring 90% or better across all the tests are awarded the Approved Business Product Award. Real-World Protection Tests Malicious attackers are getting more sophisticated by the day. Expertly crafted and exceptionally legitimate-looking email phishing attacks and malicious messages being delivered even in personal social media accounts such as Facebook and LinkedIn are just two of the most common ways Internet users (personal and business) are victimized. With all malware developments coming at rapid speed, it’s hard to keep up with trends and very easy to fall for an attack. However, with Emsisoft’s Surf Protect layer, your time on the web is secure and you can have peace of mind that you and your employees are protected from such exploitation. By using 1163 known malware variants, the Real-World Protection Test simulates how business systems are attacked, mostly by surfing the web and other routine Internet use and behavior. Emsisoft performed exceptionally well with zero false alarms and 99.3% of test cases blocked. Real-World Protection Test February-June 2018 Malware Protection Test There are instances when hackers are targeting a specific company or industry and would use multiple attack vectors to infiltrate an organization. If a company has solid security from attacks coming from the Internet, these hackers might try other tricks such as breaching through a local area network or planting infected devices such as a USB. So what’s a company to do when hackers go the extra mile? The Emsisoft Anti-Malware Real Time File Guard and Behavior Blocker features help ensure that all downloaded and modified files are checked in real time, and brand new threats that aren’t yet known by signatures are continually monitored and raises an alert as soon as something suspicious occurs. The Malware Protection Test considers a scenario in which the malware enters the test system such as the LAN or removable device, rather than from the Internet. Emsisoft performed at an impressive 99.7% malware protection rate, with zero false positives. Malware Protection Test March 2018 Performance Test PC performance should not suffer in the name of cybersecurity. With Emsisoft, you can have your pie and eat it, too. Emsisoft is the only anti-malware solution that utilizes a dual scanner. It not only detects more because it uses the full power of two major antivirus-and anti-malware technologies, it also scans quicker because of the efficient combination of the scanners. Any unnecessary duplicates in detection are avoided, enabling the least impact on memory and overall hardware resources. Using PC Mark 10 Professional Edition as a benchmark, the Performance Test looks at the impact each product has on the system’s performance, including how much it slows down normal use of the PC while performing certain tasks such as browsing websites, downloading files, launching applications, and more. Emsisoft scored incredibly well with a 12-point Impact Score and 98.0 (out of 100) PC Mark Score. Performance Test April 2018 Additional criteria A false positive test and user interface review were also considered in the results. Out of all 16 participants, Emsisoft received one of the lowest false positives. In fact, Emsisoft raised zero false positives in all tests, proving its reliability when catching malware. The newly updated interface, on the other hand, was designed with ease-of-use, intuitiveness, and workflow efficiency in mind. Emsisoft evaluation While AV-Comparatives recommends Emsisoft Anti-Malware with Enterprise Console for larger teams, our business clients range from small to large organizations, of diverse industries, including manufacturing and government, and from countries throughout the world. From installation to maintenance, our exceptional Support Team assists customers 24/7, regardless of company size. What it means for our customers “Emsisoft is committed to ensuring that our customers, both home and business users, enjoy only the most powerful anti-malware and antivirus protection of their data,” said Emsisoft CEO, Christian Mairoll. “This is why we participate in independent software testing of our products. This award confirms our commitment to quality, continuous improvement, and transparency, so you can be sure you made the right choice in selecting us.” We are incredibly proud of the quality and service we deliver to our customers. Our mission of a malware-free world drives us forward and we are grateful that you are on this journey with us. Have a wonderful (malware-free) day! About AV-Comparatives AV-Comparatives is an independent organization dedicated to evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of security software. The organization provides reliable testing methodologies and create high-quality reports that deliver deep insight into the capabilities of antivirus products for home and business AV users. Click here to read the full report of the AV-Comparatives Business Security Test, or check out other awards we’ve received in the past here. The post Emsisoft Receives AV-Comparatives Business Security Award appeared first on Emsisoft | Security Blog. View the full article