ThreatFire AntiVirus Free Edition 4.5

ThreatFire AntiVirus Free Edition 4.5 is a really superior tool which provides behavior-based protection.

Consumers spend over a billion dollars a year on security software to keep their PCs safe. Every month they spend countless hours configuring and updating their software. And yet every week millions of users are infected by new threats that their traditional antivirus does not stop.

Why? Traditional antivirus solutions cannot protect you until after they've discovered a new threat and produced a signature to counter it.

ThreatFire is different. It does not rely on signatures, but instead constantly analyzes your computer's behavior to detect and block any malicious activity. ThreatFire protects immediately so you know your PC and your valuable data is always secure.

Hightlights:

• Persistent zero-day threat protection made easy for everyone - even novice users!
• Displays detailed data on all running processes and allows you to terminate any process on demand.
• Malware quarantine and removal, rootkit scanner, advanced custom rules settings and more!
• Patent-pending ActiveDefense technology intelligently scans and analyzes computer processes to detect and block any malicious activity - without false positives!
• Runs in background without impacting system performance.
• Highest level of out-of-the-box accuracy. No need to configure baffling, technical security settings: just turn ThreatFire on and start blocking malware.
• Perpetually ready for the next malware outbreak - detects malware by watching for malicious behaviors.
• Enhanced user interface elements provide more technical details on alerts and interactive reports in ThreatFire's main control panel.
• Automatic updates run silently in the background so ThreatFire is always up-to-date.
• Protects againstviruses, worms, trojans, spyware, keyloggers, buffer overflows, and rootkits- even if the threats are brand new and have never been seen before.
• Works alongside your other security programs – in most cases you can use ThreatFire with your other antivirus, anti-spyware, firewall or other security programs.
  

Major Features:

1. Immediately Effective with No Complicated Set Up: ThreatFire provides immediate protection out-of-the-box. There are no difficult configuration decisions, intimidating messaging, or time-consuming signature downloads. The easy-to-use program with its ActiveDefense™ technology does it all so you don't have to.
2. Proactive Defense against Both Known and Unknown Threats: Traditional antivirus software offers strictly reactive protection. It can only protect you from a new threat after the threat has been discovered and new signatures to protect against it are developed, tested, and then released for download. ThreatFire does not rely on signatures to protect you; instead, it uses intelligent behavioral analysis to proactively hunt down and paralyze any activity or behavior that might compromise the security of a PC. ThreatFire keeps you safe between antivirus updates so you are always protected, no matter how new the threat.
3. Quarantine and Permanently Remove Threats from Your System: ThreatFire now automatically quarantines all threats detected, whether known or unknown for your protection. After quarantining, you can choose to permanently delete the threats from your system.
4. Rootkit Scanner Seeks Out Deeply Hidden Files, Objects and Registry Keys: ThreatFire is constantly on the lookout for signs of hidden processes that are running on your system that might indicate the presence of a rootkit. If it detects a hidden process it will immediately terminate it and notify you. However, hidden processes are not the only indicators of a rootkit. A rootkit may contain several pieces and the Rootkit Scanner dives deeper into your system to seek out any hidden files, registry keys or other objects that may be part of a rootkit. If it finds anything, it gives you the option to quarantine the objects so that the rootkit is prevented from running.
5. View Detailed Process Information on All Running Processes: ThreatFire now includes a new System Activity Monitor that lets you view detailed and informative data on all processes running on your PC. Integrated right-click context menu allows you to terminate a process on demand or perform a web search on the process name.
6. Complementary to Your Existing Antivirus Software: Since no single application is currently foolproof, a layered defense provides the most complete protection. ThreatFire is the perfect complement to your existing antivirus protection, and is fully compatible with your antivirus or other security programs. While the traditional programs will protect only against known threats included in their signatures until a new update is created, ThreatFire goes beyond and also protects against new or unknown zero-day threats.
7. Advanced Custom Configuration Options and Rules Settings: ThreatFire now includes fully configurable Custom Rules to allow advanced protection settings according to your specific needs. Use the simple Rule Wizard to create fully outlined arguments for new rules you wish ThreatFire Pro to enforce.
8. Virtually No Impact on System Performance: Even though ThreatFire runs constantly in the background while it watches for potentially malicious activity, it is very light on system resources. You'll hardly even know it's running until it alerts you to a potential problem.
9. More Technical Details Provided on Alerts: All ThreatFire alerts now include a new link that when clicked will display a list of files or registry objects that will be quarantined if you tell ThreatFire to quarantine the threat. Another link performs web search on the threat name. Easily access more data and background on the potential threats you encounter so that you can make more informed decisions on how to proceed.
10. Continually Improving Protection Technology: ThreatFire users can elect to participate in the ThreatFire Secure Community to aid in identifying suspect files and threats. When ThreatFire observes suspect behavior on a PC, the event information is automatically reported to PC Tools for analysis through a secure and anonymous connection. So as threat strategies evolve and new security penetration tactics emerge, ThreatFire's defenses remain at the forefront of the solutions that defeat those threats.
11. Absolutely Free! Best yet, ThreatFire is completely FREE for personal home use! (Business users must purchase ThreatFire Pro.)

Enhancements:

• Smarter alerts, never alerts, fewer questions:
  Security software alerts can cause confusion about the appropriate action to take (block, allow etc). ThreatFire 4.5 reduces this confusion by significantly minimizing both the number and the type of alerts that require you to make a decision. This is made possible using two new techniques:
  Behavior profiling: patent pending technology which groups threats into families based on common traits or characteristics of the threat — similar to the way authorities profile criminals. This technology makes ThreatFire capable of catching hundreds of variants of malware derived from the same original threat and helps you to make a more informed decision about any malicious activity on your computer.
   In-the-cloud techniques: potential threats are also verified against in-the-cloud black/white lists that are regularly updated to determine how they should be handled. This approach means ThreatFire asks fewer questions; requiring fewer decisions from you. Only on rare occasions when those potential threats are not identified through ThreatFire’s behavioral analysis and its in-the-cloud database, you will be displayed an action alert (yellow alert) for you to make a choice as to whether to block or allow the threat.
  These technologies combine to provide the most up-to-date threat protection while intuitively handling threats.
  
• Greater detection accuracy:
  ThreatFire 4.5 incorporates patent-pending technology to provide greater accuracy in detecting real threats and a greater ability to avoid classifying legitimate programs as potentially malicious (known as a false positive). The method that ThreatFire uses to determine the legitimacy of a program has been completely re-engineered in an effort to further reduce false positives. This new method of rating will ensure that ThreatFire’s alerts include more accurate and relevant information about potentially malicious behavior.
  
• Improved threar quarantine and cleanup:
  ThreatFire’s advanced malware cleanup ability is now even better. ThreatFire 4.5 contains tracker technology to more accurately trace the original source of the threat and ensure that only the malicious program is quarantined and legitimate programs are unaffected. This enables ThreatFire to do a more thorough clean up, provides confidence that your system will not be compromised or destabilized, and ensures ThreatFire safely identifies all of the components of a malicious program.
  
• Ehanced malware and rootkit detection:
  As always — ThreatFire continually searches for active rootkits on your system in real time — but some of the more complex rootkits require deeper scanning in order to be detected. As a result, ThreatFire 4.5 has added new rules for detecting both known and unknown threat outbreaks to provide better protection.
  This new version of ThreatFire also employs unique technologies in an enhanced rootkit scanner to help protect you from deeply hidden threats. PC Tools recommend setting up regular rootkit scans as a precaution against these particularly nefarious types of threats (this can be done in the ThreatFire settings menu).
  
• Focus on pure behavioral protection:
  PC Tools recognizes that traditional signature-based anti-virus scanners have become a less effective, secondary line of defense to proactive behavioral based protection. User feedback has also indicated that ThreatFire is useful as the first line of protection in addition to traditional signature-based virus scanners. As a result, ThreatFire 4.5 focuses on delivering best-of-breed behavioral protection and no longer provides a traditional signature-based virus scanner.1
  
• Additional update options:
  The Smart Update feature now includes several options to give you greater control over how and when updates are applied. The new update options include "download and install automatically", or "notify before installing updates".
  
• Other Features:
• • Support for Windows 2000 has been discontinued in ThreatFire v. 4.5.2
  • Online help files now available in Simplified Chinese
  • Quick Start Guides now include Simplified Chinese, German, Portuguese, Polish, French, Italian and Spanish languages.
  • ThreatFire is now available in Simplified Chinese, German, Portuguese, Polish, French, Italian and Spanish.

Requirements:

• Windows Vista or Vista SP1, Windows XP SP1, SP2 or SP3 (Home, Pro & Media Center Editions), Windows 2003, or Windows 2008
• 20 MB of disk space
• Some program functions require a connection to the Internet