TORONTO, Canada – Trend Micro has released its 2009 versions of its flagship consumer products. The release of Trend Micro Internet Security and Trend Micro Internet Security Pro 2009 is focused on maximizing protection while optimizing performance.

“Our promise to consumers is all about providing the maximum security while allowing them the freedom to go online,” said Ji-Young Kim, senior product marketing manager with Trend Micro.

With that in mind, Kim added that on the protection front, what is new in the 2009 products is the ability to go deeper especially around web security. For example, she cited that people will be alerted about suspicious links in e-mails and instant message to protect against malicious downloads, malicious web pages and malicious content.

Also incorporated into the 2009 products is WiFi Advisor, which protects people when connecting to the Internet away from home. It does so by verifying the digital signature and making sure it is coming from a legitimate source.

Another new feature is the ability to protect people’s information by locking down access to files and folders when their laptops are physically stolen.

An enhanced Home Network Security Management function allows users to see and remotely manage other computers in their home network through a graphical home network map.

Additionally, on the protection front, people’s information would be encrypted when typing in their information that is tailored for online banking and shopping. Using 128-bit encryption on keystroke transmissions the encrypted data is sent directly to the web browser, bypassing the OS (where identity theft usually occurs).

As well, there is a Security Activity Dashboard that lets people see what kinds of threats that Trend Micro has protected within a certain period but at the same time they can look at the report to find out which areas the threats are likely to come in the future in order to help them potentially change or improve their behavior online.

On the parental control front, Trend Micro Internet Security and Trend Micro Internet Security Pro 2009 will offer parents the ability to block website access by category as well as block access at specific times. Also, it will have more customization and the ability to prevent children from typing personal information into web pages.

For those who would like to extend the Trend Micro protection to their smartphones, Trend Micro Internet Security Pro offers mobile security against viruses, SMS text message spam, malware attacks, data theft and service disruptions.

“These are areas we’ve added or made enhancements around protecting security. In terms of performance, we focused on making sure while we are protecting [users], they are still able to do all the core things they need to do without being impacted on resource constraint,” said Kim.

She cited improvements in memory both physical and kernel where physical memory is 36 percent lighter and kernel usage is 73 percent lighter from the 2008 version. Kim explained that this means that when people are using the 2009 products, it uses less memory while doing real-time scanning or updates.

The Quick Scan feature checks for threats in the places they are more likely to hide in a fraction of the time that Full Scan takes. It works alongside the product s state aware feature, meaning scans and updates happen only when it s convenient for users — no inconvenient in-product messages while they are watching a video or conducting a PowerPoint presentation, or playing a computer game.

At start-up, Trend Micro Internet Security and Trend Micro Internet Security Pro 2009 are 30 percent faster and boot-up time is 50 percent faster, even when re-starting the computer.

A hold over from the 2008 version, System Tuner has been enhanced to include things like cleaning up unnecessary cookies, registry files and temporary files while also optimizing start-up applications.

“This year, we’ve seen not just Trend but everyone else focus on performance,” said Kim. “The core purpose of security software is all about protecting people, however, over the years, we do have to acknowledge that the customers were not able to see the benefits because the whole performance impact clouded the issue.”

What differentiates Trend’s 2009 products from the competition, said Ram Singh, senior director of product management with Trend Micro, is that it leverages the company’s Smart Protection Network.

“It consists of web reputation services, e-mail reputation services and file protection services that take all the threats from different angles,” he added.

Both Trend Micro Internet Security and Trend Micro Internet Security Pro 2009 are now available .

This column was written by Vanessa Ho of ConnectIT, an IntegratedMarCompany

a>>