US Internet brokerage Scottrade is teaming with security technology firm McAfee to provide free anti-phishing and virus protection software to its 1.6 million customers.
Scottrade says it will provide McAfee's VirusScan Plus product - an all-in-one firewall, anti-virus, anti-phishing and anti-spyware software package - as well as ongoing protection updates, to its customers at no charge for one year.
Customers can download the security software at Scottrade's online security centre on the broker's Web site.
McAfee says customers are often the most exposed and the least protected online but its technology will provide "Scottrade's customers with peace of mind, enabling safe and secure online trading transactions".
Todd Gebhart, SVP of consumer and mobile business, McAfee, says: "A proactive, holistic approach to security requires end-to-end protection that extends from the company's network all the way to users' PCs."
Commenting on the move, Grant Bourzikas, Scottrade's director of information security and business continuity, says the firm is making a "significant investment in security" – both with a new, state-of-the-art data centre and by offering the McAfee software for customers' PCs.