Update includes reporting and uninstall-restore fixes, among others, to further enhance users’ Web experience

Lavasoft, makers of Ad-Aware, the world’s No. 1 free antivirus software, today released advanced updates to its free Web protection antivirus complement, Ad-Aware Web Companion, to enhance users’ browser protection against the latest malware and attacks. The newest release provides several system fixes that address security and restore issues.

“As countless new computer viruses are created every day, it becomes increasingly difficult for users to stay protected against these threats,” said Daniel Assouline, CEO at Lavasoft. “While many top browsers aim to provide advanced protection for their users, they are often unsuccessful in eradicating constantly evolving threats such as browser hijacking and spyware. Through continuous updates to Ad-Aware Web Companion, we provide the most comprehensive protection from malware and other attacks to make the Internet a safer place for everyone.”

Ad-Aware Web Companion is compatible with all existing antivirus programs and works with the top browsers to provide complete anti-spyware, phishing and browser hijacking protection. With hundreds of thousands of new strands of viruses created every day, Ad-Aware Web Companion complements your antivirus and browser’s protection against the latest and freshest malware and attacks for a better, safer and lighter web experience.

The practice of search hijacking (setting a browser's search engine and homepage on behalf of the user and tracking their behavior) is alive and well. Ad-Aware Web Companion is able to solve this problem and allows users to regain full control of their browsers by providing four layers of defense: 

• Detect and remove known search hijacker programs.
• Lock unwanted search hijacker programs from being installed.
• Trap changes made to your current search engine and asks you for confirmation prior to the changes being made
• Extract the user's preferred search engine setting from the browser and secure it.

The newest release of the program provides advanced fixes, including: 

• Uninstall Restore Fix – Lavasoft was notified that “Restore Homepage and Search” upon uninstall was no longer applying changes if they were set to True. This has now been corrected and if selected, users' original settings will be restored (except if the original search is unsupported).
• Firefox Security Fix – the previous release did not include the removal of the Komodia certificate from Firefox. This new release contains the fix and the certificate will now be removed for all users that update to 908.

“These updates enable us to ensure Ad-Aware Web Companion is reducing users’ risk of PC infection while improving security in the most efficient and lightweight way possible,” said Assouline. “Ad-Aware Web Companion is the lightest Web protection currently available, engineered to use as little PC power as possible to free users’ computer performance and memory so they can do what they want to do with the assurance that their PC is safe.”

The newest release comes shortly after the most recent update to remove all trace elements of the Komodia SSL Digestor SDK, which included a root CA certificate that created a potential security vulnerability. Previous releases of Web Companion included a security feature to scan and eliminate malicious content/advertising in HTTPS traffic, including content injected by Internet proxies and adware installed on the PC. This functionality was implemented using Komodia’s SSL Digestor.

Ad-Aware Web Companion provides advanced Web protection as a free complement to any antivirus program. Download Web Companion today at http://webcompanion.com.

About Lavasoft 

Lavasoft is the maker of Ad-Aware, the world’s No. 1 free antivirus software. Founded in 1999, Lavasoft is the original anti-malware company, creating award-winning, free security and privacy software. Born of the belief that online security should be available to everyone, Lavasoft offers millions of users maximum protection for their computers and online identities. With nearly 500 million downloads, its flagship product Ad-Aware has blocked and removed billions of threats, saving consumers from all forms of attacks and malware – including viruses, spyware, adware, phishing and drive-by downloads. Lavasoft is a global company with operations in North America and Europe. For more information, visit http://www.lavasoft.com.