Avast welcomed students and professors from the School of Electrical Engineering at Czech Technical University in Prague to our headquarters on Tuesday, April 9. The visitors learned about Avast’s “freemium” business model from Martin Zima our Free Products Marketing Director, and heard 4 technical presentations ranging from “How we deal with large datasets” from Michal Augustýn, Senior Software Developer to an “Analyst’s Life – fighting cybercrime and having fun!” from two of our Malware Analysts, Martin Šmarda and Pavel Šrámek.

Thank you to all the students for your questions, open discussion and an active approach to many technical topics. And congratulations to Martin Burian who won a Google Nexus 7.

Already this year, we have hosted students working toward their MBA’s from Penn State University, Villanova University and the University of Alabama. If you are interested in visiting Avast headquarters next time you are in Prague, we would like to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.

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At Avast, we know how precious a good night’s sleep is. You can relax and sleep soundly knowing that avast! Antivirus is protecting your devices. From your family’s PCs or Macs to the Android phone in your pocket or tablet on your nightstand – avast! is guarding against prowlers, snoops, and thieves.

Check out the avast! Store for family-friendly offers on multiple device protection. And…Sweet Dreams!

It has been two or three months since I last blogged about Android malware. But that definitely doesn’t mean there aren’t any new threats. There are plenty! Here are two quick comparisons from the last two years: Growth of the malware problem of the platform in January 2012 compared with January 2013 is far from the ‘normal’ growth of other platforms. According to our statistics, it’s something around +850 percent! Add another year for an even more insane comparison – the growth from January 2011 to January 2013 gives us +3150 percent! The Android platform is definitely one of the most targeted malware platforms these days. But no worries, users of Avast! Free Mobile Security are safe. Read more…

Don’t miss our LIVE presentation of the new avast! Free Antivirus version 8! We’ve just released it today and this is your chance to be one of the first to see what avast! version 8 is all about.

We will be broadcasting our Hangout, live from Prague, Czech Republic, starting at 7 PM EST on February 28th (today). There are several ways you can view it:

• Add Avast to your Google+ circles, and we’ll post the link there. RSVP to our event and you’ll get the link automatically.
• You will also be able to watch it live on the avast YouTube channel.
• Just before we go live we will post a link to our avast Facebook page . When you see it, CLICK IT, and please be sure share with your friends!

Watch our video invitation.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Make sure you friend Avast on Facebook so you won’t miss our original comic strip, MALWARE ATTACKS!!. Here’s a quick catch-up in case you missed the first installment -

We meet unfortunate aliens fleeing their embattled home world in search of help against the evil Malware Empire. The fate of their planet rests on their success.

Illustrated by Daniel Coca López

Alien visitors come to Earth seeking help from Avast against the evil Malware Empire.

The desperate aliens visit Avast headquarters to ask for help to defeat the evil Malware Empire. Just like 177 million Earthlings who use Avast to protect themselves, the aliens find what they are looking for.

Armed with avast! Free Antivirus 8, the aliens race back to their home planet. Victory against the evil Malware Empire is assured.

Thanks to avast! Free Antivirus 8, the galaxy is once again protected against Malware. Our heroes are awarded with the medal for bravery, and avast! 8 takes its place of honor in history.

Protect your world with avast! 8. From avast! Free Antivirus to our newest top-tier suite, Avast Premier 8, it can all be found on http://www.avast.com

Recently we encountered a very suspicious piece of code on some Joomla-powered webpages. The code looks as if garbled and without any special meaning, and starts like this:

Upon closer observation, several strange things are to be noted. First, there are no alphanumerical symbols to be seen in any part of the code. Second, on the line before this code starts, there is actually an HTML tag indicating a start of Javascript code (<script>), preceded by 37 tabs. Therefore, when opening an infected file in a text editor, one cannot normally see the starting tag, because it is shifted all the way to the right. To be able to see it, you either have to horizontal scroll, or have word wrap on. The same trick is performed with the script closing tag as well. Why would anyone try to hide these tags? The answer is simple, to trick people into thinking this is not actually a Javascript code.

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I don’t know what kind of curiosity leads people to the dark corners of the internet, when they want to obtain a new version of antivirus software. It’s somehow irrational to find security software at insecure places. But…. it happens.

FP submission

As you can see, the file name is Avast_Antivirus_2012_Trial_Verion.exe – but it is definitely not a proper setup released by us. Here are some facts, that are worth remembering:

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It is a credit to the quality of our Facebook and Twitter fans that so many take the time to write us with appreciation and praise. It is extremely meaningful for us to receive your feedback, positive or negative, but we are especially motivated and thrilled to learn when we are satisfying our customers. Here are some examples of messages we have received lately on social media. Thanks to all who have written to us.

We invite all our avast! users to join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Do you use your mobile device to check email, use social networks or log in to your bank account while sipping a double mocha latte at your favorite coffee shop or while waiting for your next flight? That’s risky considering you cannot count on public Wi-Fi hotspots that you find in cafes, coffee shops, airports, schools, and hotels to be secure. Remote cybercrooks, and even the guy sitting a couple of tables from you sipping coffee, can use software to eavesdrop and snoop which could result in stolen credit card information and passwords or full-blown identify theft.

With new avast! SecureLine for iOS you can secure your wireless internet connection when using your iPad, iPhone, or iPod on a Public/Open Wi-Fi network. Here’s how it works:

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network.  avast! SecureLine VPN creates a private ‘tunnel’ through the internet for your data to travel through, and everything inbound and outbound through the tunnel is encrypted. Data is decoded at the VPN server, using advanced encryption protocols. Handy features also detect and filter malicious URLs, block ads in the browser and apps, or can compress your transferred data which saves your mobile data plan and enables access to US-only content.

Download avast! SecureLine for iOS from iTunes. Read more…