Avira updates AntiVir to version 8

Avira has released version 8 of its Antivir antivirus software on Wednesday, as both a Premium Edition and a free Personal Edition. The company has also updated its Internet Security Suite. In addition to the re-worked user interface, the new version also has a modular scan engine which works faster than the old version. It is also easier to add extensions to the new version.

The new scan engine is supposed to be capable of a 20 per cent higher throughput than the one in the previous version. The paid versions also include a Webguard that filters internet traffic for malicious content, identifying and blocking phishing and malware sites.

The new AntiBot function in the AntiVir Premium Internet Security Suite monitors incoming and outgoing email traffic for suspicious patterns to suppress botnet activities on computers infected by bots. The corporate workstation edition also now contains a MailGuard to check e-mails for viruses. In addition, the Security Suite also contains a backup module for backing up files on local and network drives.

Updates for signatures and software components can be performed separately starting with version 8. A function called the failsafe system ensures that the protection software continues to function even if an update is unsuccessful.

The names of the products are changing too. The free version for private users is now called AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus. The paid version with anti-spyware components goes by the name of AntiVir Premium and the edition previously known as Workstation is called AntiVir Professional.

About a month ago the company ratcheted up its download server bandwidth for the free classic version in order to be able to respond quickly to the expected demand. There were bandwidth problems for weeks after the previous release update from version 6 to version 7. Originally, Avira had announced a release date for version 8 in the beginning of April, but apparently there were still some bugs in the software that delayed the release for almost two weeks.

(mba)