Facebook Partners With AVG to Help Keep Social Networkers Safe

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AVG Technologies

16 Oct, 2012, 18:39 BST

AMSTERDAM and SAN FRANCISCO, October 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

- AVG Technologies is latest member of Facebook's AV Marketplace -

AVG Technologies (NYSE: AVG), the provider of Internet and mobile security to 128 million active users, announces its partnership with Facebook to help protect the world's largest global online community from the latest security threats by providing data from AVG LinkScanner to help users avoid malicious web links posted by users on Facebook. There will also be the option to download the latest AVG AntiVirus FREE 2013 product, just launched last month from the Facebook AV Marketplace.

AVG AntiVirus FREE 2013 puts users in control of their Internet experience while offering great protection for social networking and other online activities.  In addition, AVG's dynamic detection engine provides further protection by scanning links posted to Facebook in real-time to identify if any of the links are malicious.  AVG users are unable to post such links that could infect their Facebook friends.

Facebook CSO, Joe Sullivan commented "With over one billion users, we are tireless in our commitment to keep both our users and their data safe. We are proud to announce our new partnership with AVG to better protect our users both on and off of Facebook. Starting today, Facebook will be able to leverage AVG's feed of malicious URLs to prevent users from navigating to harmful sites. Additionally, people can download AVG's anti-virus software from the AV Marketplace to help secure their devices."

In the AVG Technologies Q2 2012 Community Powered Threat Report, AVG revealed how Facebook, due to its huge popularity, is a target channel used by unscrupulous cybercriminals to scam users of the social network. Some of the threats AVG protects Facebook users against includes spam messages and socially engineered tricks to try to get personal and financial data from unsuspecting individuals.

In August this year, AVG Threat Labs identified an explosion of attacks using the notorious Blackhole Exploit kit that targeted Facebook users who were unable to log-on to their accounts or access any games or applications.  Cybercriminals coordinated the attacks from multiple external advertising servers and used the social media channel Facebook to reach vulnerable users through malicious advertisements; these advertisements generated an exceptional increase from 250,000 attacks to over 1.6m recorded events within an eight hour period. AVG took swift action to protect its customers and ensure the malicious content was blocked.

JR Smith, CEO, AVG Technologies, commented: "This partnership with Facebook marks our continuing commitment to collaborating with major brands to help protect online communities from cybercrime. Social platforms are today a vital part of our modern communications networks, and it's important that people do not feel worried about using them. We believe that consumers should have a choice of options they can use to secure their connected world, giving them peace of mind to enjoy their digital experiences whether through a computer, mobile device or tablet."

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About AVG Technologies (NYSE: AVG)

AVG's mission is to simplify, optimize and secure the Internet experience, providing peace of mind to a connected world. AVG's powerful yet easy-to-use software and online services put users in control of their Internet experience. By choosing AVG's software and services, users become part of a trusted global community that benefits from inherent network effects, mutual protection and support. AVG has grown its user base to 128 million active users as of June 30, 2012 and offers a product portfolio that targets the consumer and small business markets and includes Internet security, PC performance optimization, online backup, mobile security, identity protection and family safety software.

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