Germany and China Round out Top Three Countries with Web Servers Serving Malware

AMSTERDAM–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AVG Technologies, makers of the world’s most popular free anti-virus software, today unveiled the results of a research study which shows that – contrary to popular opinion – most malicious websites are hosted on US servers and not in other countries like China.

“The results of this study shatter the myth that malicious code is primarily hosted in countries where e-crime laws are less developed”

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The AVG research study is based on the analysis of threats reported during the last 6 months from AVG’s 110 million worldwide users of its LinkScanner web security product. The research indicates an increase in malware serving web sites targeting end users, which typically focus on stealing online banking credentials, credit card information, personal identities and passwords to social sites.

The detection and analysis of exploits was based on AVG’s unique crowd-sourced methods for analyzing web content for malicious or dangerous intent as reported by AVG’s vast network of LinkScanner installations worldwide. AVG’s research shows that malicious code is not just an issue with outlaw servers located in countries with weak laws and lax enforcement. Monitoring active web servers serving exploits around the world indicates that 44 percent of the corrupted servers are hosted in the United States, followed by Germany and China at just 5 percent each. Many of these malware-serving websites are legitimate sites compromised by hackers to serve exploits on their behalf. In total, exploitive servers were found in nearly 4,600 locations throughout the USA.

It is important to note that this research makes no statement about who owns or is directing the efforts of these servers – for those criminals and/or criminal networks could be anywhere in the world – and they are.

“The results of this study shatter the myth that malicious code is primarily hosted in countries where e-crime laws are less developed,” said Karel Obluk, Chief Technology Officer, AVG Technologies. “Our research shows that malicious content is much more likely to show up on web servers in the U.S. than one in Asia or Eastern Europe. This makes perfect sense since the USA is a primary target market for the criminals and has rich and mature Internet infrastructure making the threats both highly accessible and cheap to host. What is most striking is the clear rise in the number of malicious servers in the last six months. Today’s hacking techniques are highly evasive so the average user cannot tell if a website is serving malware or not. A web security product is needed.”

Obluk continued, “Even more important to note is that, on average during this six month period, about 50 percent of the domains hosted on these servers were online and hosting threats only one day or less. This transient nature makes them very hard to find and add to traditional reputation-based protection systems in time to be helpful to users.”

As a preventive measure, users should look for web security protection when going online. AVG’s LinkScanner, included in all of AVG’s products, is a highly effective product to protect users from today’s malware in real-time. AVG LinkScanner is available for a FREE download at: www.linkscanner.avg.com

Keep in touch with AVG

* For breaking news, follow AVG on Twitter at www.twitter.com/officialAVGnews
* For security trends analysis, follow AVG blogs at https://www.avg.com/en/signal
* Join our Facebook community at www.facebook.com/AVGfree

About AVG Technologies

www.avg.com

AVG is a global security software maker protecting more than 110 million consumers and small businesses in 167 countries from the ever-growing incidence of web threats, viruses, spam, cyber-scams and hackers on the Internet. AVG has nearly two decades of experience in combating cyber crime and one of the most advanced laboratories for detecting, pre-empting and combating Web-borne threats from around the world. Its free, downloadable software allows novice users to have basic anti-virus protection and then easily upgrade to greater levels of safety and defense when they are ready. AVG has nearly 6,000 resellers, partners and distributors globally including Amazon.com, CNET, Cisco, Ingram Micro, Play.com, Wal-Mart, and Yahoo!

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February 24, 2010: AMS Software announces the release of a new version of Home Photo Studio, a convenient program for creative photo enhancement. Besides ample opportunities for photo editing, creating original greeting cards and decorating ordinary pictures with the help of numerous frames, tools, masks, filters and effects (such as 3D and plastic effects), Home Photo Studio 2.15 now supports unique HDR-like (High Dynamic Range) effect, which makes digital images really vivid and impressive.

Home Photo Studio was originally developed for uncomplicated photo editing, and, though new advanced features are constantly added, the program always remains easy-to-use and convenient. As for its effects and filters, they are easy to apply and produce the result instantly, changing a common picture beyond recognition and making it special.

Among the recently added features there is one-picture High Dynamic Range effect, a remarkable feature for producing an HDR-like image from a single photo. Usually an HDR image requires two pictures of the same object or landscape with different luminance; and creation of such an image involves time, skill and professional photo editing software.

Home Photo Studio is used by most users for creating original greeting cards, as the number of templates, frames and clipart images is quite extraordinary. Besides, effects and filters give free play to imagination and ensure creative photo enhancement: the user can add natural phenomena (such as stars, clouds, rain, snow and lightning), noise and blur, stylize a picture (ancient photo effect, pencil drawing, lithograph, etc.), adjust brightness and saturation and make complex combinations. The transparence of the effects can be adjusted, as well as the area to be processed (the top, the bottom, the center, the borders, etc.).

By the way, the Deluxe edition of Home Photo Studio is rich with extra advanced features: creation of 3D compositions, automatic creation of collages, plastic effects and import of PNG / Photoshop™ templates.

Features:

– Support of more than 20 graphics formats;
– pseudo-HDR effect;
– Convenient image cropping;
– Hundreds of filters, effects and masks;
– Fast photo enhancement and retouch;
– Creation of slideshows with smooth transition effects;
– Greeting card templates and picture frames;
– Automatic creation of collages and 3D compositions;
– Auto enhancement and red eye removal;
– Multi-language support: English, French, Italian, Spanish.

Pricing and Availability

A single-user license of Home Photo Studio runs under Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7. Standard edition costs 39.00 USD, Deluxe edition costs 59.00 USD. Further information on the product, as well as its free trial version, is available at https://home-photo-studio.com/

About AMS Software

Founded in 2003, AMS Software specializes in photo enhancement software. Among its major products are Frame Maker Pro, Photo Effects Studio, Media Show Pro, Beauty Studio and Auto Collage Studio. The products by AMS Software have got various awards from the Internet’s most respectable software download sites. For more information, please visit the company’s website at https://ams-photo-software.com/

WASHINGTON—Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the formation of a new Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property as part of a Department-wide initiative to confront the growing number of domestic and international intellectual property (IP) crimes.

“The rise in intellectual property crime in the United States and abroad threatens not only our public safety but also our economic well-being. The Department of Justice must confront this threat with a strong and coordinated response,” said Attorney General Holder. “This task force will allow us to identify and implement a multi-faceted strategy with our federal, state and international partners to effectively combat this type of crime.”

The attorney general’s announcement follows a summit meeting convened last December by Vice President Biden, a long-standing champion of U.S. intellectual property rights-holders. At that meeting, which was attended by Attorney General Holder and other cabinet heads, the vice president discussed the importance of stronger enforcement and supported actions to raise the priority of combating IP theft and improving coordination—including the establishment of an intellectual property task force at the Department of Justice.

“Theft of intellectual property does significant harm to our economy and endangers the health and safety of our citizens,” said Vice President Biden. “This administration is committed to stronger and stricter enforcement of intellectual property rights, and this new task force is a step in the right direction.”

The task force, to be chaired by the deputy attorney general, will focus on strengthening efforts to combat intellectual property crimes through close coordination with state and local law enforcement partners as well as international counterparts. It will also monitor and coordinate overall intellectual property enforcement efforts at the Department, with an increased focus on the international aspects of IP enforcement, including the links between IP crime and international organized crime. Building on previous efforts in the Department to target intellectual property crimes, the task force will also serve as an engine of policy development to address the evolving technological and legal landscape of this area of law enforcement.

As part of its mission, the task force will work closely with the recently established Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC), housed in the Executive Office of the President and charged with drafting an administration-wide strategic plan on intellectual property. As part of its mission, the task force will assist IPEC in recommending improvements to intellectual property enforcement efforts.

“Americans produce more technologies, more brands, more creative works and more innovation than any other nation on Earth,” said Victoria Espinel, the U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator. “President Obama is committed to ensuring that the value created by American workers and enjoyed by communities around the world is protected. The Justice Department’s new task force will play a critical role in supporting the administration’s ongoing efforts to protect American intellectual property and the millions of jobs that depend on it.”

The task force will include representatives from the offices of the attorney general, the deputy attorney general, and the associate attorney general; the Criminal Division; the Civil Division; the Antitrust Division; the Office of Legal Policy; the Office of Justice Programs; the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee; the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, and the FBI.

As part of its broader intellectual property initiative, the Department will also step up policy engagement with foreign law enforcement partners, develop a plan to expand civil IP enforcement efforts, and leverage existing partnerships with federal agencies and independent regulatory authorities such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Communications Commission.