PC-cillin virus protection goes mobile

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By Sam Costello

(IDG) -- Trend Micro took a step away from traditional, pure antivirus software Tuesday with the announcement of PC-cillin 2002, its new consumer antivirus package which boasts an integrated personal firewall, protection for mobile devices such as PDAs, and tools to repair damage from "Trojan-horse" programs.

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PC-cillin 2002 offers improvements in scanning and virus detection, but shines in finding and repairing Trojans, a type of malicious code that is gaining increasing prominence, says Bob Hansmann, product marketing manager for client/server products at Trend.

"Virus attacks now tend to wear many hats," with viruses and worms attacking systems through e-mail, the Web, instant messaging programs, and more, he says. Many of these viruses will leave behind Trojans that could allow attackers to later gain access to a PC, he adds.

Tokyo-based Trend's new product works to stop Trojans, he says, by scanning for them during a standard virus scan, removing them if they are found, and repairing any damage or configuration changes they have made. The software is able to do this because it has a profile for each Trojan and virus that includes the system changes it would make and how to repair them, he adds.

Expanding the range of devices protected by the software, PC-cillin 2002 also includes PC-cillin for Wireless 2.0 which offers virus protection to handhelds running the Palm OS, Pocket PC, and EPOC OS. PC-cillin for Wireless scans devices and data for viruses during beaming, synch, or e-mail and Web downloads, he says.

PC-cillin 2002 also adds a personal firewall, a product which security vendors recommend to consumers, especially those with always-on broadband Internet connections. A firewall can help to block some of the methods through which a virus can spread.

"You can't just have an antivirus program and be secure anymore," Hansmann says.

Bringing two previously separate products -- firewall and antivirus -- together "[signals] the next evolution in security," Hansmann says, "because the threats have evolved."

Hansmann expects that other previously stand-alone products could be integrated into antivirus packages in the future.

PC-cillin 2002 runs on Windows 95 and up and costs $39.95. The product is available immediately worldwide at Trend's Web site and will be in stores by the end of the month.