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Adware accounts for 72% of all mobile malware

pr@avast.com (Avast PR) — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 13:00:00 GMT

Prague, Czech Republic / Redwood City, California, March 10, 2020 – Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in digital security products, has found that adware now accounts for the vast majority of Android mobile malware. Statistics gathered between October and December 2019 by Avast’s Threat Lab experts show that adware was responsible for 72% of all mobile malware, and the remaining 28% consisted of banking trojans, fake apps, lockers, and downloaders.

Mobile adware is software that hijacks a device in order to spam the user with unwanted ads. Avast’s insights indicate that adware is a rising problem, with its share among all Android malware types having increased by 38% in the past year alone.

Adware often disguises itself in the form of gaming and entertainment apps, or other app types that are trending and therefore are interesting targets with a high potential to spread far. These apps may appear harmless, but once they’ve infected a device they will surreptitiously click on ads in the background. Sometimes, adware also serves ads with malicious content.

There are two main types of adware: adware apps, which cause distraction and annoyance; and ad-fraud/ad-clickers, a more malicious type of adware:

Adware apps: These are often gaming, photo or other lifestyle applications that appear benign after installation, but once opened, start spamming the user with ads. Occasionally this form of adware will start spamming the user with ads outside the application, making it difficult for the user to pinpoint where the ads are coming from.

Ad-fraud/Ad-Clicker: This happens when downloaded apps run stealthy activities without the user’s knowledge. These apps could download an encrypted .dex file (dalvik executable files for Android apps) in the background of a device, and decrypt it to perform actions such as clicking on ads without the user’s knowledge, enabling cybercriminals to make money from advertisers. Occasionally, these criminals will subscribe users to premium subscriptions services. A recent example of this is the Joker malware.

Commenting on the findings, Nikolaos Chrysaidos, Head of Mobile Threat Intelligence & Security at Avast said: “No one likes getting served with incessant ads; they’re often unwanted and can ruin our enjoyment of an app. They could also pose a threat to users as cybercriminals can use them as a backdoor to a device – whether it’s to make money from advertisers or steal your personal information. We’ve been tracking this issue for a number of years and the increased use of mobile devices is likely fueling its growth..”

Following these simple tips can help prevent mobile adware attacks:

Only download apps from official app stores, like Google Play, as they have security measures in place to check apps before developers upload them, or from the app’s website directly for extra assurance
Check app ratings of other users in the store, as it’s still important to watch out for fakes. If an app has few stars and many negative comments, something might be amiss
Carefully review the permissions an app requests before downloading an app; if an app requests access to data that it doesn’t need in order to function, it might be fraudulent
Check your banking and credit card statements to identify any unauthorized payments. Cybercriminals will select low cost subscriptions so they’re hard to spot
Use an antivirus solution on your phone to identify and stop any attempted attacks.

Avast Awarded “Top-Rated Product” by AV-Comparatives

pr@avast.com (Avast PR) — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 15:43:59 GMT

Prague, Czech Republic / Redwood City, California, United States, March 9, 2020 – Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in consumer cybersecurity products, today announced that Avast Free Antivirus has been recognized as one of the “Top-Rated Products” of 2019 by respected test lab, AV-Comparatives, surpassing many paid-for alternatives.

AV-Comparatives is an independent test lab that is known for its rigorous testing of security software products. Avast Free Antivirus has been named as a “Top-Rated Product” after receiving an “Advanced+” Award in four tests conducted in 2019, and “Advanced” in a further three tests. It also won a joint Bronze Award for Malware Protection and a joint Silver Award for Advanced Threat Protection.

“AV-Comparatives is one of the industry’s leading independent antivirus testing institutions, and we’re incredibly proud to be recognized as a Top-Rated Product,” said Michal Pechoucek, Chief Technology Officer at Avast. “We continue to be at the forefront in the fight against all types of cybercrime – from crypto-mining attacks to phishing attempts and botnets to banking trojans. Our machine-learning-based threat detection technology enables us to tackle new and evolving threats. Protecting people online remains at the heart of our mission to create a safer world for all.”

“In addition to its protection features, Avast includes a clean and modern interface. The setup wizard helps both expert and non-expert users establish tailored security settings unique to their device. With the rate of cyberattacks increasing year on year, it is important that antivirus solutions are accessible to people with different levels of technical expertise,” commented Andreas Clementi, Founder and CEO of AV-Comparatives. “Due to its performance during our rigorous testing process, we are pleased to call Avast Free Antivirus a Top-Rated Product of 2019.”

Each year, AV-Comparatives tests Windows compatible security products as part of its annual security report. All products were tested on: protection against real-world threats, protection against malware, protection against targeted threats, effect on device performance and number of false-positives flagged.

The full report for 2019 can be found here: https://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/avc_sum_201912_en.pdf

About AV-Comparatives: AV-Comparatives is an independent organization offering systematic testing that checks whether security software, such as PC/Mac-based antivirus products and mobile security solutions, lives up to its promises. Using one of the largest sample collections worldwide, it creates a real-world environment for truly accurate testing. AV-Comparatives offers freely accessible results to individuals, news organizations and scientific institutions. Certification by AV-Comparatives provides an official seal of approval for software performance which is globally recognized. Visit: https://www.av-comparatives.org/consumer/

Avast CISO Jaya Baloo to Speak at Nullcon

pr@avast.com (Avast PR) — Thu, 05 Mar 2020 07:00:00 GMT

Prague, Czech Republic / Goa, India, March 5, 2020 – Jaya Baloo, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in consumer cybersecurity products, will be speaking at Nullcon Goa 2020, in India, in a talk titled “Become a CISO & live life in the fast lane”. Baloo will share her experience of Avast’s “Abiss” security incident, provide strategies to keep an organization secure, and present Avast’s bug bounty program. She will take the stage on March 6, 2020 at 12:00PM local time.

Baloo’s first action as Avast’s CISO was to instigate an extensive investigation into suspicious behavior her team identified within the Avast network, later naming the case “Abiss”. First steps included collaborating with the Czech intelligence agency, Security Information Service (BIS), as well as with an external forensics team to provide additional tooling to assist the CISO team’s efforts to analyze the detected behavior. In her talk, Baloo will share her experience of her first days and months at global cybersecurity company Avast, which itself prevents attacks on hundreds of millions of users.

Baloo will also address the creation of a sustainable, long-term strategy to secure an organization whose mission is to secure others. This includes the enhancement of the organization’s awareness of threats against it, counter measurements and responsibilities, identifying vulnerabilities, and increasing overall security capabilities.

Baloo supports collaboration with the security research community. This helps to detect vulnerabilities quickly in the software an organization provides, which in turns aids the creation and provision of more secure products. As part of this collaboration, Baloo will introduce Avast’s bug bounty program to the Nullcon audience.

Media:Please contact us if you are interested in an interview with Jaya Baloo: pr@avast.com

About Jaya Baloo, Chief Information Security Officer at Avast:Jaya Baloo is Avast’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and joined Avast in October 2019. Previously, Ms. Baloo held the position of CISO at KPN, the largest telecommunications carrier in the Netherlands, where she established and lead its security team whose best practices in strategy and policy are today recognized as world leading. Prior to this, Ms. Baloo also held the position of Practice Lead Lawful Interception at Verizon, and worked at France Telecom as a Technical Security Specialist.

Ms. Baloo is formally recognized within the list of top 100 CISOs globally and ranks among the top 100 security influencers worldwide. In 2019, she was also selected as one of the fifty most inspiring women in the Netherlands by Inspiring Fifty, a non-profit aiming to raise diversity in technology by making female role models in technology more visible.

Ms. Baloo has been working in the field of information security, with a focus on secure network architecture, for over 20 years and sits on the advisory boards of the NL’s National Cyber Security Centre, PQCrypto and Flagship Strategic. She serves on the audit committee of TIIN capital, a cybersecurity fund, and is also a member of the IT Committee of Sociale Verzekeringsbank. Ms. Baloo is currently a member of EU Quantum having been a member of the EU High Level Steering Committee for the FET Quantum Flagship from 2016 - 2017.

Precautions to Take to Safely Date Online

pr@avast.com (Avast PR) — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 13:21:13 GMT

Redwood City, Calif. – February 14, 2020 - Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in digital security products, provides tips on how to safely use online dating platforms. Valentine’s Day could trigger many to start searching online for that special someone. There are many benefits to online dating, such as pre-selecting possible dates while at home or while on-the-go, avoiding awkward situations or let downs when first approaching somebody, and simply having a large selection of singles that live in the vicinity to choose from. There are also serious offline risks associated with online dating that could be avoided by taking certain precautions.

Before signing up:

Prior to even signing up for an online dating platform, it’s important to check the privacy settings across all social media accounts, not just the one that will be used to connect to a dating platform. Users should make sure information such as hometown, current and past employers, schools attended, and photos are set to private. This information, combined with first name and location (which are typically required by dating platforms), can be used to find more information online, information users might not want strangers knowing.

When signing up:

When signing up for online dating, users should carefully consider what information they want to include in their profile, such as employer and job title. "People should think to themselves: If I were at a bar, would I tell this information to every single person at the bar, or would I only share this information with people I converse with? The same thinking should be applied when deciding what to include in an online dating profile," says Luis Corrons, Security Evangelist at Avast.

Users should also remember that a picture is worth a thousand words, meaning photos can reveal more than one might think. Users should therefore check the pictures they plan on uploading to their profile to avoid revealing their usual hangout spots, or even where they live. Furthermore, users should avoid using pictures that include family and friends, unless they receive permission from them to use pictures including them on dating platforms.

While chatting with potential suitors:

Users chatting with potential dates should continue to avoid revealing too much information before meeting IRL (in real life), because one can never be sure who is really behind an online profile. "Online daters should never tell strangers their email, the name of their first pet, their mother’s maiden name, or even the city their parents met, as these could all be answers to security questions used by online portals to verify identification in case of forgotten passwords, and could be used to hack accounts," continued Luis Corrons.

Users should wait to add people as friends on social media, until they have met in person, and should also avoid clicking on links, especially to download an application sent by people they don’t know yet. Two years ago, Avast discovered spyware being spread via a seemingly innocent link to download the messaging app, Kik. Cybercriminals disguised themselves as attractive women using fake profiles, chatting men and encouraging them to move the conversation to Kik.

When arranging a F2F (face-to-face) meeting:

When choosing a location and first date activity, users should choose a public place, and meet their date directly at the selected location. Users should also tell a friend or family member about the date, and also consider sharing their live location via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger with that person, so they can keep an eye on their location until the date is over.

While on the date

While on a date, people should remember what their parents most likely told them when they were a child: never get into a car with a stranger, and should also break off the date if they feel uncomfortable.

"Online dating should be enjoyable and fun. These simple precautions can help protect love seekers, both online and offline," says Luis Corrons.

Phishing sites go undetected by almost three quarters of consumers

pr@avast.com (Avast PR) — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 16:33:18 GMT

London, UK, February 11, 2020 – Fake websites set up by cyber criminals to steal money or personal information are more convincing than ever, according to new research from Avast, a global leader in digital security products. The survey asked respondents to correctly identify the ‘phishing’ site from two seemingly identical screengrabs taken from a household name ecommerce site, and only 29% answered correctly. The slogan for this year’s Safer Internet Day is “Together for a better internet” and Avast is advising consumers on how to spot and deal with malicious cyber threats.

The research also asked consumers if they had ever fallen victim to phishing personally; with 14% saying they had, but a larger proportion admitting they weren’t sure; highlighting a lack of understanding on what phishing looks like and how to spot the signs of an attack. The survey also asked those who had fallen victim to identify the type of attack they experienced. Email phishing was the top answer (55%), followed by a phishing website (39%). Telephone phishing, often referred to as a ‘call centre scam’ was experienced by more than a quarter (27%).

Pete Turner, Chief Revenue Officer at Avast said, “This research proves how much effort cyber criminals are prepared to go to, to convince you that an email or website is genuine. Clearly they are doing a good job, as the overwhelming majority of those we surveyed were not able to correctly identify a genuine website. This is worrying, as phishing attacks can have significant financial and emotional consequences. This Safer Internet Day we want to highlight this issue, and offer easy to follow tips to ensure they don’t fall victim to phishing scams.”

18-34 year olds were the group most likely to have fallen victim to a phishing attack, with 56% admitting they’d been targeted; in contrast only 6% of 55+ respondents said they’d fallen victim. Interestingly, those in the 18-34 age group were more likely than other groups to correctly identify the genuine website from the two images shown.

Turner concluded, “Anyone can fall for a phishing scam. Although our research shows those in the younger age groups are falling victim more frequently, this is probably proportionate to the amount of time they spend online vs those aged 55 or over. This study shows how difficult it can be to spot the difference between a real and fake website, so we recommend that people follow some key steps to avoid getting caught out.”

Double check the link

Before clicking any link, hover your cursor over it and and look at the bottom left corner of your screen where the URL is displayed. It might look genuine, but if it’s not you might spot a 1 instead of an l, or .net instead of .com. if you see anything suspicious, do not enter any personal information. Apps are not immune from scammers either, Avast has found fake apps on the Google Play Store, so we recommend downloading apps from the retailer’s website to be sure they’re genuine.

Check for https

When you look at the URL and see the letters http, look out for an ‘S’ at the end, and a padlock icon in the address bar. This means the site is secure and has been verified. We do not recommend you entering any personal information on a site without this verification.

3. Install antivirus

If you don’t have antivirus on your computer or other devices, you can download software for free to quickly become protected. Make sure you download the latest updates to this software when prompted. This type of software can detect phishing emails and websites

Don’t open attachments or click on links from unsolicited emails

If something doesn’t look right with an email, perhaps it has spelling mistakes, you don’t recognize the address it comes from, or it addresses you as ‘dear valued customer’ instead of using your name, it’s probably a phishing email, or may contain a link to a phishing site. Don’t open any links or attachments from emails like this as you could be putting your personal information at risk.

Notes to Editors:
*The survey, carried out by Toluna on behalf of Avast in November 2019, surveyed 1000 respondents in the UK

Avast to Commence Wind Down of Subsidiary Jumpshot

pr@avast.com (Avast PR) — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 08:32:49 GMT

Prague, Czech Republic, January 30, 2020 – Avast (LSE: AVST) – Avast today announced plans to terminate its provision of data to its subsidiary Jumpshot, Inc. and to commence a wind down of Jumpshot. All Avast products’ core functionality will continue to perform as usual and users will see no change.

“Avast’s core mission is to keep its users safe online and to give users control over their privacy,” said Ondrej Vlcek, CEO of Avast. “The bottom line is that any practices that jeopardize user trust are unacceptable to Avast. We are vigilant about our users’ privacy, and we took quick action to begin winding down Jumpshot’s operations after it became evident that some users questioned the alignment of data provision to Jumpshot with our mission and principles that define us as a Company.”

Mr. Vlcek also shared a personal letter on the decision to wind down Jumpshot, which can be found at avast.com.

Current Jumpshot customers are encouraged to contact Deren Baker for more information. Jumpshot intends to continue paying its vendors and suppliers in full as necessary and in the ordinary course for products and services provided to Jumpshot during its wind down process. Jumpshot will be promptly notifying its customers in due course about the termination of its data services.

“We regret the impact this will have on Jumpshot employees and we appreciate the contributions they have made. We will endeavor to make this transition as smooth as possible for them,” said Mr. Vlcek.

“Avast has a long track record of protecting users’ devices and data against malware through our award-winning products, and the Company understands and takes seriously the responsibility to balance user privacy with the necessary use of data,” said Mr. Vlcek. “With the ever-changing nature of threats to users online today and in the future, Avast is focused on innovating to enhance our products for the benefit of our users and the protection of their privacy. To that end, we will continue to demonstrate our innovative new products and security as we move forward with a singular vision in 2020 and beyond.”

Six out of ten Americans at risk of falling for phishing scam

pr@avast.com (Avast PR) — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 19:57:00 GMT

Redwood City, Calif. – December 18, 2019 - Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in digital security products, conducted a survey asking respondents to identify the login screen they would trust. Respondents were shown two seemingly identical screenshots of Amazon’s login page. One screenshot was taken from a phishing version of the site, while the other showed the actual Amazon login page. Sixty-one percent of Americans thought the screenshot of the phishing version was the real site.

The research also asked consumers if they had ever fallen victim to a phishing attack, with nearly a quarter (24%) saying they had, and 22% admitting they weren’t sure, perhaps highlighting a lack of understanding on what phishing looks like and how to spot the signs of an attack. The survey also asked those who had fallen victim to identify the type of attack they experienced. Email phishing was the top answer (59%), followed by a phishing website (45%). Telephone phishing, often referred to as a ‘call center scam’ was experienced by more than a quarter (29%), and 26% said they had fallen victim to ‘smishing’, SMS phishing.

“Phishing continues to be one of the leading attack methods because it allows cybercriminals to target people at scale, using social engineering, which is a tactic used to trick people into carrying out certain actions. Cybercriminals use social engineering to take advantage of typical human behavior, as it is easier to trick a person than to hack into a system. In November 2019, we blocked nearly 3 million phishing attempts targeting more than 590,000 of our American users,” said Michal Salat, Director of Threat Intelligence at Avast. “Phishing can come in many forms, including over the phone, via messages such as SMS, and even in person. However, the most common form of phishing is online, via phishing links. Phishing links leading to malicious websites can be delivered in emails that appear to come from legitimate sources. They can also be attached to messages sent on social networking sites and apps, like Facebook and WhatsApp, and they can even misleadingly appear in search engine results.”

Avast expects cybercriminals to use more sophisticated methods of spreading malware by emails in the upcoming year. Cybercriminals can scan victims’ email inboxes, and reply to emails and include malicious attachments, and thus infect further users. Similarly, there have been cases of malware creating stealthy filters on email servers to steal new incoming messages, to either spy on victims, or to add a malicious payload to the email to then send back into the conversation. There is an entire cybercrime business focused on stealing and reselling SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) credentials, which are the same credentials used to log into an email account. SMTP is used by email clients to send emails, and using stolen SMTP credentials, cybercriminals can send malicious emails appearing to be from specific people.

To avoid falling victim of phishing attacks, Avast recommends following the steps below:

1. Install a strong antivirus

Users should keep devices and applications up-to-date at all times, and install a strong antivirus with an anti-phishing feature to prevent breaches of personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers. Antivirus acts as a safety net, protecting online users, and Avast uses AI to detect phishing threats quicker.

Carefully check emails

Users should always be cautious, even if emails appear to be sent by family, friends, or colleagues. Avast advises users review emails for unusual grammar errors, checking if the writing style is dissimilar to previous messages from the “same” sender, or if there is an overdramatic sense of urgency in the message. These characteristics may indicate that the message is malicious. Many phishing emails include malicious attachments appearing to be important documents, and links to malicious sites that look like the real deal, and are hard to recognize as fake. These fake sites can request the user to log in to an account, or enter sensitive information, like payment details. Users should therefore always enter URLs directly into the browser and avoid clicking attachments. Instead, users should contact the entities that the emails appear to be from through a separate channel to ensure the message and attachment was sent by them.

HTTPS not so secure anymore

Users should not solely rely on the green HTTPS padlock in the browser URL bar. While this signifies that the connection is encrypted, the site could still be fake. Avast data shows that half of phishing sites are encrypted to further deceive users, so it’s important users double check that the site they are visiting is the real deal.

Notes to Editors:
*The survey, carried out by Toluna on behalf of Avast in November 2019, surveyed 985 respondents in the USA

Mobile Scams, Sophisticated Malspam, IoT Malware and Botnets are on 2020 Prediction List from Avast Threat Experts

pr@avast.com (Avast PR) — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 09:00:00 GMT

Prague, Czech Republic, December 4, 2019 – Avast (LSE: AVST), a global leader in online security products, today announced its cybersecurity predictions for 2020 in its annual Threat Landscape Report.

Avast Threat Experts anticipate the following security trends for 2020:

Advancements in how PC malware is delivered

Avast’s Head of the Threat Intelligence Systems, Jakub Kroustek, expects advancements to be made in terms of how malware is delivered to PCs, with more sophisticated methods of spreading threats being deployed. These include distribution via malicious emails, from stealing incoming emails either to spy on victims or to add a malicious payload to the email which is then sent back in the conversation. Kroustek also predicts a resurgence of exploit kits, indicated by his observation of a strong comeback in kits and malware to be spread via supply chain attacks. Finally, we are likely to see cybercriminals exploit RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) vulnerabilities to distribute threats.

Kroustek said, “Cybercriminals are constantly innovating and looking for new ways to circumvent today’s powerful personal and business security solutions. Not only is it harder for people to spot malicious emails or suspicious links and attachments, making attacks more likely to be successful, but the exploitation of RDP vulnerabilities to spread worm-like strains of threats could have significant impact.”

Mobile scams and iOS vulnerabilities

On the mobile side, Nikoloas Chrysaidos, Head of Mobile Threat Intelligence and Security at Avast predicts that more subscription scams and fake apps will make their way onto official app stores, and that more iOS vulnerabilities will be exposed by security researchers and bad actors alike.

Chrysiados explains, “Getting malicious apps onto the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store is not an easy task, which is why cybercriminals are shifting towards subscription scams, and fake apps integrated with aggressive adware to make money. We are already seeing community projects, like checkra1n, providing high-quality semi-tethered iOS jailbreaks based on the checkm8 bootrom exploit. While this could enable researchers to discover more vulnerabilities, we hope they will be reported to Apple and not abused by the bad guys.”

Internet of Things (IoT) devices will become an even greater target for hackers

Security researcher Anna Shirokova predicts devices and even physical locations will become smart - or even smarter than they already are - to be used by vendors to collect more data about users in order to learn and predict their behavior.

“Smart devices and locations that collect data offer convenience, but they limit people’s control over their privacy. Additionally, companies collecting and storing a plethora of customer data make attractive targets for data hungry cybercriminals looking to sell data for financial gain on underground markets,” explains Shirokova.

Shirokova also expects cybercriminals to continue adding obfuscation to their IoT malware, similar to how cybercriminals attempt to protect their Windows malware code from being analysed by researchers.

Security researcher Daniel Uhricek foresees the development of new exploits for smart devices and predicts that malware authors will continue to build upon older, already established malware families, expanding them with newly released exploits to widen their IoT attack surface.

“Malware authors have also been making progress in preparing their attack infrastructure. We have seen IoT malware adopting DNS-over-HTTPS, Tor communication, proxies and different encryption methods, and we expect malware authors will adopt other security practices to make their botnets more robust,” said Uhricek.

Privacy will become the new frontier for security

Rajarshi Gupta, Head of Artificial Intelligence at Avast, expects to see practical applications of AI algorithms, including differential privacy, to profit from big data insights as we do today, but without exposing all the private details.

Gupta said, “There is recent work, like the Data Shapley, to attribute value to individual pieces of data provided by users. While we do not foresee a monetization of personal data in 2020, per se, we hope to start seeing initial products that at least allow individuals to take back control their own data, by deciding whether and which companies can harness their data, and what data they can use.”

These trends form part of Avast’s annual Threat Landscape Report, which can be downloaded here.

Avast Named CES 2020 Innovation Awards Honoree

pr@avast.com (Avast PR) — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 14:00:00 GMT

Redwood City, Calif. - November 8, 2019 - Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in digital security products, today announced that its new IoT security product, Avast Omni, has been named a Best of Innovation Honoree in the CES 2020 Innovation Awards. The product won the “Best of Cybersecurity and Personal Privacy” category for outstanding engineering and design, underscoring the company’s mission to protect users everywhere they connect to the internet.

Avast Omni features an easy-to-use app along with hardware that simply plugs into an existing router to secure all Internet of Things devices in the home. Based on Avast’s extensive threat intelligence network, Omni sends alerts if unusual behavior is detected on your IoT devices on the home WiFi and blocks access to potential threats. It also features robust parental controls to help parents manage their child’s digital habits, such as blocking inappropriate websites, screen time limits, and location services that tell you where your child is at all times.

“At CES in January 2020, we’re going to see an onslaught of new internet connected consumer electronics that promise to make our lives more convenient, but there still remains a lack of safeguards in place assuring the privacy and security of IoT in the home,” said Gagan Singh, Chief Product Officer at Avast. “We fundamentally reject the notion that it’s the consumer’s responsibility to make sense of it all, so we have built a simple plug-and-play solution to remove the guesswork and put control back into their hands. I’m proud of the engineers, developers, and cyber threat experts behind Avast Omni who very much deserve this prestigious honor from the Consumer Technology Association.”

The CES Innovation Awards program is an annual competition recognizing outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products. Honorees are selected by a group of judges consisting of consumer technology designers, engineers, and members of the media.

CES 2020 attendees can demo Avast Omni at Booth #44564 in the Sands Convention Center. Those interested in learning about IoT security risks and how to keep kids safe online can join Avast Vice President, Leena Elias for a fireside chat at the Kids@Play and FamilyTech Summit on Thursday, January 9 at 1:15pm in the Venetian, Level 4, Lando 4302.

For more information about Avast Omni, please visit www.avast.com/omni.

The CES Innovation Awards are based upon descriptive materials submitted to the judges. CTA did not verify the accuracy of any submission or of any claims made and did not test the item to which the award was given.

Avast and Czech Technical University in Prague Establish Joint AI and Cybersecurity Lab

pr@avast.com (Avast PR) — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 08:00:00 GMT

Prague, Czech Republic, November 5, 2019 – Avast [LSE:AVST], a global leader in digital security products, and The Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU), have announced a partnership to advance research in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning. The collaboration is the first of its kind in this field with the Avast AI and Cybersecurity Laboratory (AAICL) located on campus at CTU in Prague where most of the research will be undertaken.

Avast’s rich threat data from over 400 million devices globally will be combined with the CTU study of complex and evasive threats to undertake research on the means to pre-empt and inhibit attempts made by cybercriminals to use new technologies including artificial intelligence to mount increasingly sophisticated and damaging cyberattacks. The goals of the laboratory include to publish breakthrough research in this field, and to enhance Avast’s malware detection engine, including its AI-based detection algorithms.

“The power of this partnership is to facilitate the sharing of groundbreaking research and its real-world application. For AI to work well in the context of cybersecurity, you need a lot of data. But you also need cybersecurity professionals and academics for detailed malware analysis that can be fed into the AI machine. This collaboration with CTU is designed to bring together the world’s richest cybersecurity dataset with some of the best minds in the field of AI, so we can learn from one another,” said Avast CEO, Ondrej Vlcek. “In the wrong hands, AI as a tool can create more sophisticated malware and distribute mass-scale spearphishing attacks. This alliance with CTU will help circumvent AI-based attacks now and in the future.”

AAICL, which is based in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at CTU (FEE CTU), will be supported by a $1M investment by Avast spread over a five-year period. The funding will be used to carry out scientific research in the AI and machine learning field, helping CTU to grow its talent pool and establish itself as one of the leading academic institutions on AI and cybersecurity. AAICL is the product of previously successful teamwork between Avast and CT. Joint projects include as the Aposemat research project on IoT devices in February 2018, and more recently the discovery of Geost, a large-scale Android banking botnet targeting Russian citizens.

CTU researcher Sebastián García, who has been appointed Lab Director at AAICL, said: “Collaboration with industry is crucial for moving our academic research forward. The laboratory will combine Avast’s global insights, threat data and experience with the AI and security research produced at CTU, to create a joint program that tackles the big cybersecurity issues of our time, including the detection of evolving and highly-sophisticated malware, IoT security, and identification and analysis of fake news.”

AAICL will therefore employ three full-time senior researchers and up to ten PhD students of the FEE CTU.

About Czech Technical University in Prague

The Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) is one of the biggest and oldest technical universities in Europe. CTU currently has eight faculties (Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Nuclear Science and Physical Engineering, Architecture, Transportation Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Information Technology) and more than 18,500 students. For the 2019/20 academic year, CTU in Prague is offering its students 170 accredited study programmes in Czech language and 53 in foreign languages. CTU educates modern specialists, scientists and managers with knowledge of foreign languages, who are dynamic, flexible and can adapt quickly to the requirements of the market.