Global cybersecuirty company Avast has launched a new Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based software to block phishing attacks.
The Prague, Czech Republic-based company has launched Avast 2019, a free and premium flagship consumer security product. Leveraging AI, the product is designed to ensure ‘enhanced detection’ of phishing websites by automatically checking a site’s URL for suspicious tokens, domain meta information, and inspecting the visual aspects of sites.
It claims the technology allows users to recognise new phishing sites in seconds, thus users across all platforms are protected from falling victim to phishing scams and other fraudulent emails.
Ondrej Vlcek, Avast EVP & CTO, said: “Phishing is a very effective social engineering technique and cybercriminals have recently upped their game when it comes to creating phishing sites to trick people into giving up sensitive information, which is why we need to use powerful technology to combat the threat. Avast 2019 brings together next generation phishing protection with great usability and convenience features, to provide our customers with the best security and privacy protections.
Among its new features, Avast also provides new Do Not Disturb Mode silences alerts including those from third party applications, such as Windows, email, chat and browser notifications while users run applications in full screen.
The company has also launched new Sensitive Data Shield, a feature that protects premium Avast customers with an additional safety net from cybercriminals and spies. The feature identifies sensitive files, such as tax files, health records, and travel documents, and gives users the option to “shield” and protect access to these files. This way, unauthorized third parties and programs, such as malware, are unable to read and alter the files, allowing users to take back control of their sensitive data.
Avast’s Wi-Fi Inspector feature is a free feature which scans routers, PCs, mobile and IoT devices connected to users’ network and provides solutions on how to fix issues found. It has been enhanced for improved device identification and more thorough detection of security vulnerabilities and similar weaknesses.
Vlcek added: “Under the hood, we have extended our AI-based capabilities to ensure the ongoing enhancement of detections and security response. We are proud of our scores in third party tests blocking threats, but we know it is a continuous battle where we need to keep outsmarting the bad guys with new methods and technologies in order to win.”
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