Unlike other solutions, AVG LinkScanner analyzes individual pages on a web site to generate a rating for those pages. Imagine that one or two pages on a vast site like Facebook or MySpace are being used to spread malware. If a safe-surfing solution only rates  entire sites based on what it finds on a couple of pages, a bad rating on those one or two poisoned pages would result in blocking users' access to any of their friends' pages on that site.

"The Web has become the primary distribution mechanism for viruses (and other malware), drive-by downloads and other stealthy web threats which represent vast majority of attacks," said AVG Technologies CTO Karel Obluk. "So we've evolved our product range to put greater emphasis on combating this more insidious and dangerous form of attack. AVG LinkScanner is at the front line of this additional protective layer. It's our goal, by making this layer freely available, to give users the confidence to always feel safe when they go online."

Neighborhood Watch Research

AVG's "neighborhood watch" approach to AVG LinkScanner research also increases the product's ability to provide relevant protection to users – putting the protection where users actually go and when they go there, rather than trying to map and secure the entire Internet.  The LIVE Intelligence Network has for the past five years focused solely on this area of evolving threats through the combined resources of:
 

·        a global team of expert human researchers and a network of 'hunting pots'

·        an intelligent filter for known and suspected threat distribution sites and mechanisms

·        automated threat encounter feedback, ensuring focus on real-world threats that affect real users

 AVG LinkScanner aggregates intelligence gained through these three channels, correlates it in real time, and integrates it back into the threat analysis process to continually improve user protection.

Other tricks are being developed all the time, and users should not assume they are safe if some other pop-up appears while they're surfing the web or downloading files. Running AVG LinkScanner will protect users against new as well as existing forms of social engineering trickery.