AVG touts tighter security for small firms

AVG has updated its anti-virus software aimed at small businesses, promising enhanced web and social networking protection and improved detection rates.

The security firm said that AVG Internet Security 2011 was built using customer feedback, and has been designed to offer a faster, more agile user experience.

"AVG 2011 harnesses the power of our community by leveraging our 110 million users," said J R Smith, chief executive at AVG Technologies.

"Everyone who is part of the AVG community is assisting to protect everyone else who also uses our products by sending us over 1.5 billion potential threats from all over the world for evaluation every single day."

AVG said that new threats appear rapidly on common sites and disappear less than 24 hours later, so it is important that companies use up-to-date and proactive security protection.

AVG 2011 offers real-time scanning and detection, allowing business customers to use the internet with confidence, the vendor said.

The software should take no more than five clicks to install, according to AVG, while a "game mode" makes sure than scans are carried out in the background, preventing items like pop-up notifications from disturbing other on-screen tasks.

Another feature prevents the software from scanning systems or applications that are in use by making a virtual note of what has been scanned already, and investigating only new and uncertified files.

AVG also said that a "single-click fix" feature lets customers tackle and prevent security issues simply and quickly.

Pricing for a one-year, one-seat licence for the Business Edition starts at $54.99 (£35), and includes an enhanced firewall, network installer and in-depth reporting features.