ESET®, a leader in proactive digital protection, and having a record number of VB100 prices for the latest 10 years for their ESET NOD32® technology, today launches the 7th generation of flagships within their consumer products: ESET NOD32® Antivirus and ESET Smart Security®. New technologies, including Exploit Blocker, Advanced Memory Scanner, Vulnerability Shield and ESET Social Media Scanner provide an outstanding balance between protection and usability without compromising system performance.

"Here at ESET, we create security products that enable a more secure use of everyday technology," says Minna Vadsager, Country Manager for ESET Eurosecure Denmark. "Our latest product retains a low impact on system performance, as ESET is known for, while providing even greater protection against new and undiscovered malware, thanks to unique technological improvements."

"Today's cybercriminals often use highly encrypted malware designed to avoid being detected. To further increase the likelihood of infection and damage, the malware is typically distributed by exploiting vulnerable applications such as web browsers, PDF readers, email clients or MS Office components, "continues Minna Vadsager.

To handle these threats, ESET has conducted extensive research and expanded its core detection technology in version 7 products with 3 new features:

· Exploit Blocker, a brand new feature aimed at the actual process of exploiting vulnerable applications, it is generic and independent of the malware and its payload, which ultimately infects the machine. It provides protection against new and undiscovered malware, also known as zero day threats.

· Advanced Memory Scanner acts as a post-resolution method that aims to detect malware that other technologies have not spotted. The scanner helps protect against malware that actively tries to avoid being detected by using technologies to hide its own presence.

· Vulnerability Shield is an extension of the personal firewall of ESET Smart Security, it works at network level and protects against abuse of known vulnerabilities in network protocols.

"The new technologies in Version 7 of our flagship products have been developed and implemented in a unique way so they work together and are able to proactively detect and block vulnerabilities, such as PDF exploit CVE-2013-0641 from February 2013, which was dubbed "exploit of the year" due to its high popularity and frequent use in Exploit Kits, and was also awarded the Pwnie Award for Best Client-Side Bug Award at BlackHat 2013, "says Juraj Malcho, ESET Chief Research Officer. "The technology has also been helped to address the problem of targeted attacks, such as the infamous RSA breach in 2011."

"During the BETA phase of the version 7 products, Advanced Memory Scanner was able to detect and collect a number of copies belonging to malware families, which often cause major issues such as Win32 / TrojanDownloader.Wauchos, a notorious" vehicle " "For the delivery of malware, or high-profile Trojans like Win32 / Fynloski, Win32 / Wigon or Win32 / Zbot ** and last but not least, technology has also proven to help against ransomware," adds Malcho.

ESET's Research and Development team has been focused not only on detecting but also removing malware. The Cleaner module has been improved to specifically go after removal of rootkits and a specialized Cleaner has been added to help remove the most resistant malware.

In the light of Harris Interactive *** research data and the growth of cyber threats on social media, including Twitter spam and malware, the new version 7 products have improvements that increase security and an improved version of ESET Social Media Scanner (version 2). It monitors and keeps the user and their friends social network accounts free from threats, and the user can choose between on-demand and automated malware detection. In addition to a better scan of Facebook, it also extends the protection of the user's Twitter account. The security center displays the current privacy level on Facebook and Twitter and proposes changes that can improve privacy settings. All these improvements are part of my.eset.com. By creating an account here, the user can control the protection of his social profiles and protect an unlimited amount of accounts, including friends and family.

The latest research results from Harris Interactive (on behalf of ESET) show that there is an increasing number of adult Internet users that connect to multiple networks daily. On average, these users have at least accounts for 2 social networks and 2/3 of them do not feel that the websites do a good job of screening for harmful content. The report states: "Receiving suspicious messages has become the norm; 4 out of 5 social media users have received these, and 91% of them have received 1 this year, most often via email."

Both ESET NOD32 Antivirus and ESET Smart Security are officially certified for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. To download the new version 7 and to find out more about the new technology and its core features, visit the product pages for ESET NOD32 Antivirus and ESET Smart Security.

* Pwnie for Best Client-Side Bug is given to the person who detects or develops the most technically sophisticated and interesting client-side bug
** Additional malware descriptions are available at http://www.virusradar.com/
*** Harris Interactive on behalf of the ESET online survey in the US in September 2013 conducted among 2,089 adults aged 18 and over.