CPP will now add the new Prevx 3.0.5 to its latest version of Identity Protection Alert product (IPA), an identity fraud policy that is offered to business partners, including many of the UK's largest banks and financial organisations. Prevx 3.0.5 is a powerful anti-malware solution that includes the new SafeOnline technology for protecting all online transactions from threats such as phishing, DNS poisoning, screen grabbing, man-in-the-browser and keystroke logging. IPA policyholders can download Prevx 3.0.5 and, in a few seconds, start banking, shopping and transacting online with confidence. The user-friendly solution, which protects users' bank account details and other confidential information, will coexist with existing security software, has minimal impact on the user experience and provides real-time protection to prevent infected PCs from compromising an online transaction.

"The internet has become a haven for identity theft, as people often unwittingly disclose personal information that can be easily exploited by complex scams perpetrated by sophisticated malware. It became clear that our IPA product would be further enhanced with a strong online security solution, so we evaluated the market to find the product that could offer our customers the best in identity, PC and internet protection," said Michael Lynch, CPP's Head of Identity Protection. "Following benchmarking tests performed against a range of competitive products, Prevx 3.0.5 was selected because of its comprehensive protection and, particularly, its innovative approach to securing the PC browser from online threats through the new SafeOnline component. We also liked the fact that the product has an extremely powerful integrated anti-malware component that works alongside other security solutions, which means that there is no impact on our customers' experience because they don't have to rip out an existing anti-malware product and replace it with Prevx 3.0.5. This layered approach acch actually makes their PCs that much safer."

In the UK alone, according to Financial Fraud Action UK, online banking fraud losses for H1 2009 totalled £39m, a 55% increase on the same period in 2008, with the cause primarily attributed to malware. Prevx 3.0.5 protects information such as passwords, session credentials, addresses, credit card details or account numbers that are entered into or displayed by an internet browser during an online transaction. This is possible because of the new SafeOnline component that completely locks down the PC operating system and browser to render malware blind to the transaction, enabling secure online transactions even on infected machines. As a result, attacks such as keystroke loggers are prevented from intercepting any information that a person types into the keyboard. Similarly, information on the screen is hidden from the eyes of malware used for screen grabbing. The product also ensures that an individual is connected to the true website of a bank, government department or online shopping portal, and is not inadvertently passing their personal information to a phishing site.

According to Mel Morris, CEO at Prevx: "High profile criminal investigations, such as the recent case of a Manchester couple who used the Zeus virus to steal millions of pounds worth of personal information, increasingly highlight the dangers of ID fraud. However, as the internet becomes more central to our lives we should have greater confidence in being able to perform simple transactions such as online banking and shopping." He continued: "Malware such as this bypasses the protection of the most popular security products on the market today, infecting thousands of PCs. Where these products fail, Prevx 3.0.5 has been successfully tested as 100% effective in protecting online transactions from prevalent and voracious threats including Zeus. CPP is undoubtedly a leader in the UK identity protection market, so its exclusive selection of our technology to protect its one million existing customers is a powerful testament to the strength of the solution."

Immunity Inc., the world leaders in security and vulnerability testing, assessed Prevx 3.0.5's ability to combat powerful malware Trojans that are targeted towards banks, the largest victims of e-crime. The test reported that the solution protected all online transactions from threats such as the Zeus, MBR, Goldun, and Silent Banker groups of Trojans and credential stealers. With Prevx 3.0.5, CPP IPA policyholders have access to two powerful features for detecting and removing malware. Firstly, a fast and powerful scanner can quickly scan a PC for potential threats, and alert a person about potential risks. This scanner then works with a malware detection system that couples the world's largest cloud-based threat database and most powerful automated malware research operation to track over 20 million threats in real time. A powerful heuristic layer also identifies and locks onto new malware, and either ring-fences or delays it from starting so that PCs are immediately resistant to new "zero day attacks".