Ad-Aware 8.0.0.0 (2009 Anniversary Edition) Download

Ad-Aware is a decent security product which is particularly good at detecting spyware and adware components. Latest version of Ad-Aware, the Anniversary Edition, was recently released by Lavasoft and is now available for download. The new version includes a faster scanning engine, improved heurists detection, SmartSet, Ad-Watch Live! along with many other enhancements.

I’ve been using Ad-Aware for quite a while now but it’s never been my primary security software. I usually leave Kaspersky Anti-Virus to do the background scanning while Ad-Aware and SuperAntiSpyware scans are run about once a week (or if I smell anything fishy). This has become much easier with Ad-Aware 8.0.0.0 - In previous versions a background system service had to be enabled at startup for the proper functioning of Ad-Aware (regardless of whether ad-watch was enabled or disabled). But in this version you can set this service startup type to ‘manual’ instead of automatic and still use the application without issues. 
There are several different versions of Ad-Aware titled Free, Plus, Pro and Enterprise. The free version has everything you need except heurists to catch spyware and adware - you need not bother with cracks or serials for Ad-Aware Plus or Pro in most cases.
Features

• Detect, Remove AND Clean
• New!Ad-Watch Live! Basic integrated real-time protection
• Rootkit Removal System
• New!Radically improved resource efficiency
• New!Lavasoft SmartSet
• New!Customizable Profile Scans
• New!External Drive Scanning
• New!Pin-Point Scanning
• New!Full integration with Windows Security Center
• Easy to download, install & use

Download
Ad Aware free can be downloaded directly from official download page or from one of the mirrors.
[Click Here] to download Ad Aware Anniversary Edition from Softpedia
[Click Here] to download Ad Aware Anniversary Edition from official download page 
For people who are having trouble trying to get Ad-Aware to start after installation or those who are experiencing startup error messages, check this thread for a solution.
P.S. - If anyone was wondering, it’s called the Anniversary Edition because Lavasoft is celebrating their 10th year running in security software development.

ESET NOD32 Anti-Virus 4.0.314 Final Released

Although I don’t use it anymore, there was a time when NOD32 was used as my primary security software. My overall experience with this product is good – it caught most of the viruses and other baddies that came its way and most importantly, it never was a resource hog like many other modern AV software. ESET have silently released the first final build of  NOD32 v4.0, the next major upgrade in NOD32 AV product series.

It looks like ESET have made improvements to the scan engine (SSL scanning, etc), enhanced the e-mail scanning (added support for more mail clients) and most importantly included a new feature called the ‘Removable Media Security’. This is aimed at stopping viruses that spread via removable drives such as USB flash drives (i really hate these type of autorun worms and Trojans) and should be welcome news for many readers who are plagued by such viruses. 
It’s only been a about a day since the release of the final build and I have not managed to find any cracks for this software yet. Expect many someone to crack NOD32 v4.0 entirely or release update workarounds, unlimited trial hacks, 3rd party update server hacks, etc soon, given the product’s huge popularity even among pirates.
Download
Currently, a 30 day trial version can be downloaded directly from ESET’s official servers (and I bet that by the end of those 30 days, a working crack or some other workaround will be out). All are direct download links.

Pirates crack ESET NOD32 4.0 and Smart Security 4.0 series security products

recently released version 4 series security software to the market which contained loads of new features and enhancements over the previous v3 series. ESET v4 products have been relatively safe from piracy as most of the hacks and cracks for v3 ceased to work with new product versions. Pirates are slowly overcoming this problem – working cracks and workarounds are slowly appearing for ESET NOD32 4.0 and ESET Smart Security 4.0.

Initial cracks for NOD32 4.0 were limited to extended/unlimited trial workarounds. When applied, the crack extends the 30 day trial period of the product usually indefinitely (or say 10 years). With this method pirates are able to enjoy full benefits of the software including automatic updates over the web, even though the product is technically a trial. A well known unlimited trial for NOD32 and ESS v4.0 seem to be Mara-fix 1.0 and Mara-fix 1.1.
Apart from the trial workarounds, I have seen another new crack for NOD32 and ESS being swapped on file sharing networks and warez forums lately (cracked by SHAHED and uploaded by MAMBO04). This is a little more advanced than a simple unlimited trial hack – it’s actually a pre cracked version of the full software. With this release there is not much the user needs to do – the MSI installer package is modified to make the software pre-cracked.
With version 3.0 ESET gave pirates quite a hard time by blocking pirated copies from their update servers, blacklisting 3rd party update servers and blacklisting widely circulated serials, usernames and passwords. With new cracks emerging for version 4.0 of NOD32 and ESET Smart Security, it will be interesting to see ESET’s response this time around.
Note: Do not post download or torrent links to cracks, key generators, serials or other hacks here. This is merely a news site – not a warez blog.

Kaspersky Anti Virus 2010 and Internet Security 2010 beta builds released

When it comes to PC security software, Kaspersky Lab’s products usually kick ass both in terms of usability and effectiveness. Heads up if you are interested in new Kaspersky product releases – new beta builds of both Kaspersky Anti Virus 2010 and Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 have been released. These new builds however are still in early beta testing stages and are nowhere near the final release. In case you are willing to install and try these new versions out, we have included direct download links at the end of this article since they are still not available via the official web site.

I have not yet had the time to test KAV 2010 or KIS 2010 betas extensively. Some of the differences over v2009 that were noticeable included a new revamped user interface as well as improvements in manual scanning time. More information about v2010 beta releases can be found on KIS/KAV2010 beta testing thread on Kaspersky Labs forums.
Download
Kaspersky 2010 series beta products are still not available for download via the official web site (I could not find them there). We have however included direct download links for both KIS and KAV 2010 products below.
[Click Here] to download Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 V9.0.0.313 Beta
[Click Here] to download Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 V9.0.0.313 Beta
Note that these builds are still in beta and you might run into undiscovered bugs or glitches while using them. Proceed at your own risk.

Kaspersky Anti Virus 2010 Final Direct Download (v9.0.0.459)

Kaspersky Labs released 2010 versions (v9.0) of their Anti Virus (KAV) and Internet Security (KIS) products just a few days ago. Since I’ve never used KIS, I’d rather not comment about the product here. KAV on the other hand has been watching my back for the past year or so and has done an excellent job at defending my computer against all sorts of malware on and off the net. Kaspersky Anti Virus 2010 comes with major new features such as an IM Anti-Virus, a revamped user interface, privacy cleaner and lots of enhancements to existing features. And if you were a pirate who used to activate Kaspersky using .KEY files found on warez sites, you’ll be in for a little shock as well.

I’m not really sure but it seems the developers managed to seriously optimize the memory resident scanner module of KAV (avp.exe). It used to take around 24MB of physical memory with KAV 8.0 (version 2009) and now it takes only around 12MB most of the time ( sometimes the memory consumptions goes as low as 5MB ). Anyways I might be wrong as this claim is not based on any long term observations - I’ve only used this app for around 15 mins by the time this post is being written.
What about pirates?
It is no secret that Kaspersky, being one of the most popular security product in the world, is heavily pirated (after the trial period expires the application continues to function – however new definition updates are not received). There are no cracks or cracked versions of the product itself but pirated serial keys can be found almost anywhere on the net. Hell, there are even automated key finders as well as sites with daily updated keys. Up until now, the primary method pirates used to activate this product is to open the license section of the app, choose ‘activate using the .key file option’ and then point to the pirated key file downloaded from the internet.
Here is a shocker – version 2010 does not have the ‘Activate Using Key File’ option. When you launch the License Manager in KAV 2010, you will either be asked to ‘purchase new license’ or ‘activate new license' – both of which will NOT prompt for a key file. So is this truly the end for ‘key file pirates’? Not really. If you disconnect from the internet, delete the trial license and then try to use the ‘activate trial license’ option again the program will try to connect to internet and fail. Upon failure, it’ll give the good old ‘activate using key file’ option where pirates can use even a KAV 8 key to illegally activate the application.
Download
We’ve provided direct download links below for the TRIAL version of Kaspersky Anti Virus 2010 Final build – no E-mail registration is required.
[Click Here] to download Kaspersky Anti Virus 2010 version 9.0.0.459 Final from official server
If you are one of our readers from Sri Lanka, you can actually purchase a genuine version of KIS with a one year subscription for as low as LKR 1800 (that’s around $16). You don’t even have to go to the dealer to make the purchase as it’s available in most IT related shops in the country. This way there would be no messing about with blacklisted keys for at least an year :) (Thanks to ‘leyland’ for the info)
Note: Do not post links to key files, key finders or anything of that sort here. This post is purely for informational purposes.

SuperAntiSpyware 4.27.1000 Direct Download

Here is the latest version of one of the best Anti-SpyWare products on the market today. You might not have heard about this software before but SuperAntiSpyware (SAS)’s ability to detect and remove malware that slip through popular Anti Virus software such as Norton, McAfee and even NOD32 deserves a lot of credit. As I have mentioned several times through this blog, to get the best out of SAS you need to combine it with an standalone Anti Virus software such as Kaspersky AntiVirus. Let KAV do the real time scanning and if you notice anything odd with your machine, load SAS and run a manual scan. It’ll probably solve your malware issues in a single click.

Another great reason to use SAS is that it’s free. You don’t have to bother with expiring keys, getting blacklisted or having to search for cracks. Of course there is a pro version of the app but the free edition has everything a home user needs, including even unlimited definition updates.
Developer Description
SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition is 100% Free and will detect and remove thousands of Spyware, Adware, Malware, Trojans, KeyLoggers, Dialers, Hi-Jackers, and Worms. SUPERAntiSpyware features many unique and powerful technologies and removes spyware threats that other applications fail to remove.
Download
[Click Here] to download latest version of SuperAntiSpyware from official server (Direct download – link auto updated with latest build)

Protect USB Flash Drives & Other Portable Media From Viruses With USB Security Utilities

If you use a USB flash drive or a portable hard drive, you are likely to have come across viruses that spread via such media. I’ve had many experiences with these pests - no matter how good your anti virus software is, some of these just manage to penetrate all shields to bite you in the ass. And when one of them does, all your portable media are at risk of getting infected– it could be your flash drive, portable hard drive, your phone’s memory card, your digital camera’s memory stick, etc. If you are annoyed by viruses that spread via USB based removable media, here’s a security solution you can try. USB Security Utilities is a free set of tools that can safeguard your portable storage media from viruses, trojans and other malware (and it can be used with your resident anti virus scanner as well).

USB Security Utilities uses several layers of protection to ensure maximum security for your media. First and foremost it uses good old virus signature based scans to look for most common viruses that spread via USB devices – these scans have to be run manually – this software does not have a memory resident scanning module. Additionally, it scans for techniques commonly used by most viruses such as an exploited autorun.inf file or executables placed inside every folder and subfolder of the drive. USU can also protect your data by immunizing the portable device using it’s ‘Vaccine’ tool (this will prevent suspicious files from being copied to your USB).
All of this functionality is integrated into a single, easy to use interface. Note that the program may switch to Spanish on first launch – to change interface language to English, switch to the rightmost tab and hit the ‘English’ button. Also, I noticed that it does not place a desktop or a start menu shortcut – you have to run the exe from the install location to run in.
Download
You can download USB Security Utilities from the official download page. The tool is free and does not include any form of adware.
[Click Here] to download the latest version of USU. The page is in Spanish, but the download link should easily be identifiable.