Sunbelt Software Upgrades VIPRE, Announces New VIPRE Antivirus Premium

SAN FRANCISCO, March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- RSA Conference-- Sunbelt Software, a leading provider of Windows security software, today announced an upgrade to its award-winning VIPRE® Antivirus + Antispyware product.  The new version, now called VIPRE Antivirus 4.0, includes extensive under-the-hood enhancements and improvements that continue the company's rich heritage of providing powerful, high-performance desktop antivirus and antispyware protection.  The company also announced a new addition to the VIPRE product family, VIPRE Antivirus Premium 4.0, which includes desktop firewall and other anti-malware technologies to deliver fast, powerful and comprehensive malware protection. The releases are part of a significant technology platform upgrade to all of the company's endpoint security products. (See related announcement "Sunbelt Software Announces Major Upgrade to its VIPRE and CounterSpy Product Lines").

"These new releases continue to provide our end-users high performance protection from malware threats that has made VIPRE so successful in the market," said Alex Eckelberry, CEO of Sunbelt Software. "The Premium edition is notable in that we didn't set out to build a suite with 'everything but the kitchen sink'. Instead, we focused on the task of providing outstanding desktop anti-malware protection, without any compromises in performance."

VIPRE Antivirus 4.0

VIPRE Antivirus 4.0, the new version of the company's original VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware, includes notable enhancements such as improved support for removable drives; enhanced support for 64-bit environments, including a 64-bit boot cleaner and 64-bit rootkit scanner; support for Mozilla Firefox Scan Extensions; and other overall quality improvements to bolster the efficiency and performance of the VIPRE product.  

New VIPRE Antivirus Premium 4.0

VIPRE Antivirus Premium 4.0 is designed to provide the core, necessary desktop malware protection that users need in today's threat environment. Instead of creating a product loaded with largely marketing features (such as parental controls or online backup), Sunbelt focused on the core features that provide users with comprehensive protection — a desktop firewall, host-based intrusion prevention (HIPS), malicious URL filtering and an intrusion detection system (IDS).  

Features in the Premium edition include:

Two-way firewall: Based on the company's Sunbelt Personal Firewall™ technology, the new fully integrated bi-directional firewall supports 32 and 64-bit environments and protects users from unwanted incoming and outgoing traffic.  The firewall can run in a "Simple" mode (which provides inbound protection and requires virtually no user interaction) or for advanced users, a "Learning" mode (which adds outbound protection, requiring the user to train the firewall on acceptable outbound traffic).  In addition, there is a "Boot Time" firewall mode, which limits access on the PC to only certain resources upon loading.

Web filtering:  Since most threats are web-borne, the web filtering module provides vital protection against a wide range of web-based attacks.  Features include:

• Malicious URL Filtering: Leveraging Sunbelt's industry-leading ThreatTrack™ database of malicious URLs, Malicious URL Filtering provides a significant additional layer of protection against the rapidly evolving online threat environment.  Constantly updated by Sunbelt's malware research labs, ThreatTrack is used by numerous leading security organizations.  
• Ad blocking:  Ad blocking cleans the clutter on the web, blocking many third-party advertisements from ever appearing while surfing.  
• Anti-phishing:  Blocks access to known phishing websites by email or through the web browser.
• Script blocking: Optionally block Javascript, VBScript and ActiveX controls.
• Cookie settings: Filter persistent cookies, session cookies, foreign cookies and referral information from an originating website.

IDS (Intrusion Detection System):  The desktop IDS functionality of VIPRE provides an additional layer of protection against a wide range of both inbound and outbound malicious internet traffic (such as an attempted exploit).

HIPS (Host Intrusion Prevention): The HIPS functionality protects against an attack vector known as code injection, where an application attempts to "ride-along" the credentials of another application to exploit a system.

Pricing and availability

Both versions of VIPRE Antivirus are currently available. Annual subscriptions include one year of threat definition updates, software upgrades, and live US-based toll-free technical support. Customers of the existing VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware on an existing subscription plan will receive the new VIPRE Antivirus 4.0 at no charge.  An upgrade to VIPRE Antivirus Premium is available for a nominal fee.

VIPRE Antivirus pricing for a single user annual subscription is $29.95, a 2-user subscription is $49.95, or an unlimited home license is $59.95 that protects all PCs in a single household.

VIPRE Antivirus Premium pricing for a single user annual subscription is $39.95, a 2-user subscription is $59.95, or an unlimited home license is $69.95.

VIPRE is compatible with both 32 and 64 bit version of Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008, Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7.

30-day fully functioning trials are available for both versions on Sunbelt Software's website at www.sunbeltsoftware.com.  

About Sunbelt Software

Headquartered in Tampa Bay (Clearwater), Fla., Sunbelt Software was founded in 1994 and is a leading provider of Windows security software including enterprise antivirus, antispyware, email security, and malware analysis tools. Leading products include the VIPRE® and CounterSpy® product lines, Sunbelt Exchange Archiver™, CWSandbox™, and ThreatTrack™.

For more information about Sunbelt Software, please visit the company's website at http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com. To learn more about current activities, products, and ideas at Sunbelt Software, please visit Sunbelt's corporate blog at http://www.sunbeltblog.com. To view this release online, go to http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Press/Releases/?id=336.

Copyright © 2010 Sunbelt Software. All rights reserved. All trademarks used are owned by their respective companies.

SOURCE Sunbelt Software