Agnitum BLOG

Outpost 7.0 – moving towards the public beta. Preview

2009-12-11T16:08:00.006+03:00

Now that there are a few weeks left before the public beta of Agnitum's new product line we'd like to share a preview of new features and improvements to constitute the final Outpost Pro 7.0 expected in Q1 2010.

This blog posting is the first in a series where you'll find descriptions of the novelties we’re making as we develop the Outpost Pro 7.0 products, which are soon going into beta. We’re encouraging everyone to get to know the new versions gradually as soon as they'll become available, learning all aspects of what’s new and what’s better, so we can get your concurrent feedback. Many of the improvements in our products are suggested by our users, so you might find your idea in a future blog posts in this series.

Here's a very brief overview of how Outpost products evolved:

New! Outpost Protected Objects

Outpost Protected Objects (working name) module enables protection of locally-stored assets (Protected Objects) from corruption or access by malware. With just a few clicks, you can simply highlight a folder or file using Outpost’s Advanced menu and set a password. This simple action ensures private, secret or otherwise sensitive content is kept safe from children, colleagues or other users of the computer, as well as from external threats, such as spyware and other nefarious programs.

New! System and Application Guard

Outpost 7.0 users will benefit from System and Application Guard (working name), sibling of Outpost's Critical objects controller, which adds another layer of defense to Agnitum's paradigm. This new feature protects sensitive personal data (cached login details and passwords, electronic wallet IDs, etc.) stored by instant messengers, browsers and electronic payment processors from being accessed and hijacked by unauthorized non-related applications – a wide-spread technique employed by modern malware-makers. Outpost will be equipped with predefined access limitations so that only ICQ would be able to retrieve personal ICQ credentials, only Internet Explorer would be granted access to its cookies and so forth.

Improved! Anti-Malware engine

The Anti-malware engine has been enhanced with new detection and remediation capabilities and also underwent the following improvements:

• In compliance with antivirus protection standards, the option to automatically cure infected objects detected by the real-time monitor is now set as default action
• An updated heuristic analyzer, part of the Antimalware module, turns visible in the interface and more flexible due to adjustable sensitivity levels (normal/high)
• Actionable Quarantine facilitates decision-making regarding neutralized suspicious objects; quarantined files can be easily restored right from the new menu or exterminated in a couple of clicks

New! Monitor of file and registry activity

An invaluable assistant to advanced users, this tool provides a big picture of current file and registry activity. The user may opt to take a snapshot of the monitor's records for deeper analysis or, if necessary, terminate a suspicious process right from the list.

Improved! Updated anti-leak capabilities

Like the previous versions Outpost 7.0 has furthermore enhanced its anti-leak arsenal addressing the latest zero-day threats and data leakage techniques employed by sophisticated malware.

New! Revamped user interface

The solutions were redesigned to reflect the modern Windows 7 look and provide better visibility of product notifications.

Improved! Optimized performance

Outpost 2010 solutions deliver improved performance and use fewer system resources thanks to a number of measures:

• New! Tolerant filtration of P2P currents, such as video and audio streams
• Improved! More efficient anti-malware update process due to new local servers and decreased update volume - without prejudice to consistency and content
• Improved! Friendly interoperability with applications and web-sites using Middle and Far East language characters due to ImproveNet advancements

New! Extended compatibility

Outpost 2010 is fully compatible with Windows 7, Vista (up to SP2), Windows XP (up to SP3), Windows Server 2003 and 2008, and , as well as all previous 32-bit versions from Windows 2000 onwards and all 64-bit Windows. All Outpost solutions are fully compatible with the Microsoft Action Center in both Windows 7 and Windows Vista.

That's it for now. We'll elaborate the descriptions and give you more information on every feature and improvement in further blog postings. Keep your eyes open for the updates and expect the notification of publicly available versions!

Stay tuned!

Pavel Goryakin, Agnitum

100 days of Windows 7 support

2009-10-29T13:14:00.005+03:00

We are pleased to announce 100 days of Windows 7 support, which was first introduced more than 3 months before the OS was officially released to the public on October 22, 2009.

Agnitum's R&D has been professionally exploring Windows 7 since 2008, lots of technological tweaks, preliminary and hands-on testing have been performed to ensure hassle-free co-operation with the new system.

As you may remember, Agnitum's first Windows 7 RC-compatible effort was version 6.7 (released on July 22). The current version 6.7.1 (released late September) further improved its compatibility with Windows 7 and Vista SP2. The product was properly integrated with Windows Action Center support and optimized system performance on x64 systems.

Windows 7 Official Release users may now take advantage of Outpost Pro 6.7.1 software proven by 3 months of successful interoperability. Full-functional 30-day trials of Outpost Firewall Pro, Outpost Antivirus Pro and Outpost Security Suite Pro are available for download at http://www.agnitum.com/products/

Pavel Goryakin
Agnitum Ltd.

Outpost-Windows 7 story contest - winners revealed

2009-09-23T18:02:00.003+04:00

We've finally selected 10 best stories about Outpost Pro operation on Windows 7. Many thanks to all the participants! The prizes went to Brazil, Finland, Romania, Russia, the UK and the US. Congratulations!

You can find the top 3 stories published on Agnitum's web-site.

Also, we anticipate development news in the nearest future! Keep your eyes open for product updates.

Pavel Goryakin
Agnitum

Outpost and Windows 7 stories: special chance for the blog readers

2009-09-04T18:07:00.002+04:00

Now that we've closed down the story competition on the subject "How Outpost helped protect your Windows 7 PC", our board of judges started a friendly yet rigorous discussion of the winners list! We've made a short-list of stories but it looks like we'll reserve a few more days for debate.

Although the contest is generally over, a suggestion was raised to give our devoted blog readers another chance and prolong the competition until September 20. You now can send your texts using Agnitum's contact form or give us a link to the story on your blog.

Be creative, be sincere and keep to the subject which is Outpost solutions and their operation on Windows 7. Good luck!

In the meantime we'd like to thank all the participants for the stories we've already received. We really enjoyed what we read, and some stories were really useful to us!

Extremely grateful for the feedback!

Pavel Goryakin,
Agnitum

Outpost stories: on guard of Windows 7

2009-08-27T17:48:00.006+04:00

We'd like to remind you that another Outpost Story competition announced in our regular newsletter is soon coming to an end. We're closing down the text form on September 1.

You still have a chance to win one of the prizes by telling us how Outpost 6.7 dealt with security issues on Windows 7 RC. No matter how short or long your story is, just follow a few simple rules:

the story should be in English
the story should be based on real experience with Outpost 6.7
you are welcome to report the difficulties with Outpost 6.7 but just as part of the story, not in a "wanna-submit-a-bug" manner
no libel or bad language please!

To give you a taster of possible texts, we publish two excerpts from our users' stories below:

- Our user from the US:

I have been using Windows 7 RC 64-bit for about 4 months now and needed a firewall suite that would be compatible for this system. I work for a cable company and the software suite that they provide is not compatible for Windows 7 RC 64-bit. I looked at the reviews on almost every security site that was out there. I have a Associates in IT Networking/Security Management and seeing the reviews, I decided to try Outpost Security Pro 2009. I installed it without a hitch and started to play around and was amazed at the protection that it provided. I used several 3rd party security check sites and they all returned with great results.

<...>

I have used several different Firewall suites and by far this one has had the best tech support and software. I would HIGHLY recommend this to anyone that is running Windows 7 RC 64 bit.

- Our user from Finland:

For a long time in my life, I didn’t care about having any protection software on my computer. All the software I tried just didn’t seem to do anything. One day a good friend of mine proposed the Outpost Security Suite Pro, which I wasn’t sure that I’d like or if it would even work at all. I had recently started using the new Windows 7 RC, so I was ready for some problems. Nevertheless, I decided to give the software a try. To my surprise it installed without any problems and after looking around in the options I fell in love with it.

<...> The software gave me excellent control over programs and how they connected to the internet. I didn’t even know some of the programs were calling “home”. This already made me feel so much safer and all the programs that required internet access worked as smoothly as they would have without any protection. Unlike before, I now had full control over the software on my computer. Everything was working as smooth as before, no; in fact, it was working smoother than before as I now had total control over my whole system.

By the way, the American customer reported an issue in Entertainment mode that we addressed immediately ;-)

Looking forward to your emails! Submit them here.

Pavel Goryakin, Agnitum

Outpost User Survey

2009-08-07T10:31:00.007+04:00

In this blog-note we appeal to those who purchased Outpost products in the past three months.

We would like to request just five minutes of your time to help us continue to improve the protection we provide to you through our Outpost products. We have just a few questions about your perception of Outpost products, and we’d really appreciate it if you could give us your feedback.

As a security provider, it’s vital for us to understand your security needs so we can deliver a rock-solid, easy-to-use, and fast security solution. Your ideas and suggestions will help us to do just that.

Please check your malibox for a survey email from Agnitum within the next few days. (You might also want to check the spam folder in case you still don't use Agnitum's built-in anti-spam or Spam Terrier for accurate handling of messages :-))

If you receieve the email, but you are not the actual user of the product registered to this email address, please forward the survey to the person who does use the software.

Many thanks in advance! We're looking forward to your replies.

Pavel Goryakin
Agnitum

Agnitum gives away OSS lifetime prizes to ComputerActive readers

2009-08-03T11:50:00.003+04:00

Hi there,

ComputerActive, a popular UK IT magazine, is running a competition with Agnitum's lifetime suites as a gift to the readers.

You may still jump in and join the contest. The deadline is August 20, the competition question is elementary, winners are chosen at random.

Take your chance!

Pavel Goryakin
Agnitum

Outpost 6.7 now provides extended protection and stability for Windows 7 RC users

2009-07-21T18:41:00.003+04:00

After a recent notification of Outpost 6.7 RC, we are pleased to announce the final release of the new iteration. The latest versions of Outpost 2009 provide beta support of Windows 7.

In line with the company’s history of keeping track with Microsoft's operation systems (including Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 in Outpost 6.5.5), Agnitum has today delivered security solutions for users of Windows 7 RC even before the OS is released to the general public.

Among the improvements in Outpost 6.7 are:

support for Windows 7 (release candidate) together with stable operation on latest service packs for Vista and Windows Server 2008 (both 32-bit and 64-bit)
enhanced anti-malware engine and heuristic analyzer for better detection
improved self-protection and Host Protection anti-leak (addition of new filters for driver loads)
advanced content filtering now fully compatible with P2P clients and rich-media websites
dramatic reduction in false positives from Attack Detector while ports scanning
faster performance under Vista SP1/SP2 and 64-bit Windows
more stable network operations for users with Internet Connection Sharing, shared printers and workstations using VMWare
more suitable settings for Auto-Learn and Game modes

Outpost 6.7 also offers improved compatibility with the following third-party applications:

security tools – Windows Firewall, Vista UAC, Kaspersky Antivirus/Internet Security
browsers – revamped Outpost QuickTune plug-in for Internet Explorer 8 on 64-bit Windows
email clients – The BAT!, Incredimail
P2P clients – EMule, mTorrent
translation tools – ABBYY Lingvo X3, TranslateIt!
music and screen reading software – AIMP, Imeem.com, Jaws
all video players and PC games working in full-screen mode

Unlike other vendors who have moved to a 15-day time limit on trial versions, Agnitum continues to offer a full 30 days of evaluation time for users to put Outpost products through their paces.

Trial versions of the current Outpost 6.7 products can be downloaded at www.agnitum.com/products/

Pavel Goryakin
Agnitum

Summer discounts for further 6.7 users

2009-07-14T11:18:00.001+04:00

While we're preparing a new major update of Outpost Pro 2009 product line (Outpost Pro 6.7 with beta support for Windows 7 RC), there's some great marketing news as well!

We prolong until the end of July the special summer offers for the entire range of Agnitum's security products. Act now! The number of bargain price licenses is limited.

Lifetime single licenses for Outpost Firewall Pro for the incredible $39.95!

Outpost Firewall Pro lifetime licenses become even more available to any budget! You can purchase a single license (for 1 home PC) with lifetime support and updates for as little as $39.95 – the regular price of a one-year license. Hurry up and take advantage of everlasting protection!

Don't miss this special offer and let us know how you enjoyed the products!

OSS Pro – pay just 1 year's price for 2 years, but only if you buy right away

Agnitum is also offering a tremendous discount on its acclaimed all-in-one solution, Outpost Security Suite Pro. For this month only, you can get comprehensive protection for one year for just 29.95 and 49.95 for two years of product updates and support!

A long-time VB100 winner and consistently a leader in the Matousec.com Proactive Security tests, Outpost Security Suite Pro has recently been enhanced with a brand-new heuristic analyzer and monitor for auto-started objects to give you an additional layer of defense against sophisticated malware.

There is a limited number of OSS license available at these great prices – so don’t miss this offer!

Outpost Antivirus Pro – just 14.95 this summer!

Lightweight yet smart protection, Outpost Antivirus Pro delivers a one-two punch of proactive and reactive defenses against the latest threats. Now you can purchase a 1 year license for as little as 14.95 (instead of 24.95).

Go to our special offer page to buy Outpost Antivirus Pro at this great price.

Outpost Network Security 3.0 – give your boss or admin a nudge

If you've ever tried and like Outpost protection for home, have a word with your office decision-makers. They mayt want to know that Agnitum's new protection for SMBs is still sold with a 20% discount – until September 1, 2009! Learn more at the product page (the prices shown are already discounted prices!).

NB! It is cheeper to buy now license on special offer for 1, 2 years or for the lifetime than renew it even for discounted price!

Now we are done with special offers, development news coming in a couple of days. Stay tuned!

Agnitum announces the release candidate of Outpost 6.7

2009-07-03T15:52:00.001+04:00

We're glad to announce the availability of Outpost Pro (2009) 6.7 release candidate within Agnitum's beta program. This iteration should be finalized in a couple of weeks.

Generally speaking, Outpost 6.7 adds beta-phase compaibility with Windows 7, enhances the capabilities of content filtration and further masters Agnitum's acclaimed host protection. Also the version brings along a few improvements, such as, just to name a few:

• Windows Firewall now disabled after Outpost 6.7 installation
• Quick Tune plug-in now available in Internet Explorer on x64 platforms
• Updates now work when default proxy was changed
• Transit packets are OK for opening web pages on VMWare
• Packets are not blocked if using Internet Connection Sharing

Outpost Pro (2009) 6.7 can be installed on Windows 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, Windows Server 2008 (incl. all x-64 versions) - and Windows 7 RC.

You can try the new Outpost version (release candidate) right away! Just contact our Support Service and ask for the build.

Pavel Goryakin,
Agnitum

SmartScan makes wonders!

2009-06-25T14:54:00.008+04:00

In a few blog notes before we boasted statistics of antivirus scan speeds within Outpost Security Suite, here's the data of yet another research performed by Antimalware Test Lab.

As you remember all Agnitum's products are empowered with SmartScan technology, which helps skyrocket overall product performance and dramatically minimize scanning time. SmartScan records statistics of previous scans and avoids checking unchanged files in consequent analyses, which makes malware checks extremely fast and easy.

The first chart shows primary scan speeds across a bunch of security solutions:

Outpost 2009 does pretty well on the clean set collection with a decent 3 minutes showing.

Now let's take a look at the repeated scan statistics:

Yes, right! Outpost performs a repeated check in just about 5 seconds!

For details, you can study the chart below (click to enlarge):

Keep your eye open for Outpost software updates and new versions that will include further performance tweaks and iterations of the acclaimed SmartScan technology.

Summer editions of Outpost 2009 products with WinServer 2008 SP2 and Vista SP2 support

2009-06-09T16:45:00.003+04:00

We are pleased to announce the new iteration of Outpost 2009 solutions – Outpost 6.5.5 – which brings along further security improvements with a brand-new antivirus engine and extended compatibility.

Agnitum preserves the tradition of monthly software updates for all home products. Each month brings more security measures and ease-of-use keeping pace with the ever-evolving malware threats.

The current improvements include:

a new version of Agnitum's anti-malware engine that guarantees advanced detection rate and even faster operation with minimal lag on system resources;
solid compatibility with the latest OS's – Windows Server 2009 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2, both 32- and 64-bit.

Learn more in the "history of changes" section:

http://www.agnitum.com/products/security-suite/history.php
http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/history.php
http://www.agnitum.com/products/antivirus/history.php

Simultaneously, Agnitum works to ensure Windows 7 support for the whole product range and expects to launch the compatible versions later this summer.

Trial versions of Outpost 2009 Summer Edition products can be downloaded from the product pages:

Outpost Security Suite Pro, Outpost Firewall Pro, Outpost Antivirus Pro.

Pavel Goryakin
Agnitum Ltd.

Another VB100 in Agnitum’s collection. In tests under WinServer 2003 x64

2009-06-03T16:51:00.004+04:00

Hot on the heels of our analysis of VB100 test statistics Outpost Security Suite Pro 2009 received another award this June. This month's test platform was Windows Server 2003 x64.

According to Virus Bulletin, “with no issues in the current WildList set, no false positives and no other problems, Agnitum starts this month's comparative off well by winning a VB100 award".

It should be noted that Outpost Security Suite Pro 2009 is one of very few solutions on the market to offer “native” compatibility with 64-bit platforms and has been specifically designed to work smoothly on both 32- and 64-bit systems.

The new iteration of Agnitum’s all-in-one solution and standalone products - compatible with new Windows Server 2008 and Vista's service packs as well as Windows 7 RC (in beta regime) and featuring an enhanced anti-malware engine, is expected in summer 2009 and will be granted a special notification.

The latest edition of Outpost Security Suite Pro is available for download at the product page.

Pavel Goryakin
Agnitum

Antivirus Speed Measurements (VB 100 data)

2009-05-21T17:19:00.014+04:00

It's been more than a month's time since VB 100 published their results for April, and just now we've got down to publish some curious data arising from that comparison. Needless to say, we were interested in performance and scanning speeds Outpost demonstrated, as well as its detection rate. According to VB 100 results we compiled a small chart that reveals system files scanning speed for different products. Here you go:
This is the result for Outpost Security Suite Pro 2009. Kaspersky - the leader of this chart - is, in fact, presented with a standalone antivirus (KAV 2009), which means more velocity "by default" and with no pains, as any separate solution is lighter on resources than any security suite. Therefore, nothing to write home about. ESET submits a standalone product too, less successfully speed-wise, though. Symantec Endpoint Protection is just a bit faster than Outpost.

This gives us a clue that we're doing pretty well among the antivirus industry leaders!

Pavel Goryakin
Agnitum

Outpost Firewall goes free... and popular!

2009-05-05T14:36:00.004+04:00

Just a few days after its launch, Outpost Firewall Free went on top of the Download.com chart (Firewall Software Downloads category). An ecouraging sign for us and, hopefully, a good motivator for you!

You can download Outpost Free featuring the award-winning firewall and host protection at Agnitum's site or by the link above.

Pavel Goryakin

Agnitum Ltd.

Agnitum's Outpost Firewall goes free

2009-04-28T15:46:00.004+04:00

We are pleased to announce a new free version of the award-winning Outpost Firewall.

Outpost Firewall Free 2009 encompasses Agnitum's fundamental protective mechanisms and provides key components to build a comprehensive security system.

Agnitum's decision to develop a free version of its flagship product has nothing to do with climbing on the bandwagon of acclaimed gratuitous solutions. Despite economical trends and high development costs, the company sees its goal as to equip the IT community and average internet users with the main parts of the security construction set at no cost.

Those parts are: the best-of-breed two-way personal firewall, host protection module which blocks suspicious activity and 0-day threats and self-protection which prevents product deactivation by malware. All this coupled with minimum impact on system resources makes Outpost Firewall Free a handy instrument for an unprotected PC.

As you know, the paid version of Outpost Firewall also offers identity protection, antispyware engine powered with speedy SmartScan technology, web control that blocks malicious internet content, free technical assistance and multi-language support, just to name a few.

System requirements

Outpost Firewall Free is compatible with Windows Vista SP1, XP SP3, as well as all previous 32- and 64-bit versions from Windows 2000 onwards. The product will work smoothly on a 450 MHz or faster CPU (x86/x64/multi-core) with 256Mb RAM.

The product is available in English only.

Download Outpost Firewall Free here!

Pavel Goryakin
Agnitum Ltd.

You pay for Outpost, Agnitum pays taxes for you

2009-03-18T12:09:00.003+03:00

Good news for those of you who reside in Europe and have to pay a rather high VAT when purchasing Outpost products. In fact, you don’t have to do that anymore! According to the recent EU regulations, service providers are obliged to indicate prices including value-added tax - that’s what we do. The trick is: the prices indicated remain the same, because Agnitum pays VAT for its customers and thus saves you around 19% off the product price.

In other words, when purchasing Agnitum’s products online you pay what you see - 49.95 for Outpost Security Suite Pro, 39.95 for Outpost Firewall Pro and 19.95 for Outpost Antivirus Pro (1-year license, VAT included!)

The offer applies to the European Union and the UK only. Take advantage!

Vitaly Yanko,

Marketing and Sales Director
Agnitum

Outpost Security Suite takes the 1st place with 93% in Matousec Tests

2009-02-25T16:28:00.004+03:00

We are pleased to announce that the latest improved version of Outpost Security Suite Pro (OSS) 2009, released on February 14, 2009, has come out on top in the most recent Firewall Challenge test. This security research, performed by Matousec Transparent Security (www.matousec.com) on February 17, 2009, put Outpost ahead of 15 security suites.

Receiving a leading 93 % efficiency rating in leak-tests, termination and performance tests, OSS 2009 beat out more than 35 other personal firewalls and security suites tried against up to 84 latest “Firewall Challenge” tests.

A leaktest is a program designed to determine if a firewall’s outbound protection can be bypassed using specific techniques. A failure in any leaktest indicates that the software is unable to prevent the user’s data from leaking out if that particular technique is used by a hacker or other malware, hence the term “leaktest”.

Leaktests are not the only challenge security software should be able to resist. Matousec Transparent Security also analyses firewall efficiency in:

general bypassing tests that emulate malware attempts to bypass protection generally without targeting specific components;
termination tests that emulate attempts to disable the product and its defense functions;
spying tests (including keyloggers and packet sniffers) that test whether a product is able to prevent malware from spying on a user’s data;
performance tests.

Matousec Transparent Security has recently implemented a new, even stricter and more challenging, methodology of testing, which is described on the researcher’s web-site at http://www.matousec.com. Detailed test results are available at http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php.

"We'd like to thank Matousec lab for another thorough examination of Outpost security, this time the all-in-one solution - Outpost Security Suite Pro 2009. By becoming one of the leaders in this latest test we demonstrated the futility of opposing our standalone firewall product and security suite when it comes to proactive protection and resistance to leaktests", said Maxim Korobtsev, Chief Technical Officer at Agnitum.

Pavel Goryakin
Agnitum Ltd.

Agnitum releases Outpost Network Security 3.0

2009-02-20T17:47:00.004+03:00

We are pleased to announce the latest implementation of the company’s core business security solution. Outpost Network Security (ONS) 3.0 delivers comprehensive anti-malware and intrusion protection for Windows-based networks.

Over the past three years, Agnitum has focused on home-user solutions while maintaining ONS as a standalone firewall and anti-malware product for businesses. The release of ONS 3.0 incorporates the applicable functions and benefits that have been added to the Outpost Security Suite Pro.

Outpost Network Security is specifically designed to protect SMB networks against the latest security threats, as well as addressing the problem of productivity waste caused by resource-hungry or otherwise inefficient security products. ONS safeguards local networks against multiple threats, prevents disclosure of confidential information and centralizes the tasks of deploying and managing protection.

ONS ensures the integrity of business data by offering a number of robust security mechanisms:

Proven antivirus and antispyware ensures a malware-free environment
Award-winning bidirectional firewall delivers safe network connectivity
USB access lockdown prevents the business’s digital assets from leaving the network
Safe data repository to prevent data disclosure

In addition to the security benefits, ONS 3.0 offers a number of capabilities that systems administrators will appreciate and that will ensure corporate policies are maintained and enforced.

Centralized deployment to minimize IT workload
Centralized on-demand checks for malware on remote PCs
Online and offline updates to keep protection current
User group segmentation for more targeted protection
Remote configuration for easy, hands-on management
Full compatibility with all current 32- and 64-bit Windows operating systems

One ONS 3.0 benefit that will lead to significant improvements in security management effectiveness is real-time control of endpoint activity. Outpost helps to overcome this limitation by providing real-time monitoring of system and network activity for any remote host.

As in the consumer product, subsequent malware scans on local and remote clients can be performed in almost no time through Agnitum’s proprietary SmartScan3 technology, which stores previous scan results in a single protected location, thus avoiding repeat scans of unchanged files.

Also inherited from home-user versions of Outpost, ONS’ built-in self-defense mechanism guarantees that workstation protection cannot be switched off by targeted termination attacks, ensuring network clients are protected 24/7.

Outpost Network Security 3.0 pricing starts at $224 for a minimum of 10 PCs, with per-user costs reducing as license quantities increase. More details may be found at: http://www.agnitum.com/products/networksecurity/index.php.

Vitaly Yanko,

Director of Marketing and Sales
Agnitum

Agnitum Announces the New Year Edition of Outpost Pro 2009 Product Line

2009-01-22T14:14:00.003+03:00

We are pleased to announce the new iteration of Outpost 2009 solutions which brings along further security improvements and nifty components for even easier product configuration.

What’s new in the latest versions?

Antivirus performance with new SmartScan 3 - now even smarter

The SmartScan engine has gone through a number of optimizations in the quest to deliver the ultimate in virus scan performance. This latest version improves on the scanning speed by skipping safe system files that contain digital signatures of trusted vendors.

Actionable alerts

When an unknown application triggers a firewall alert, the user can act right upon it – in addition to creating a custom rule the user can add the target domain to a blocked addresses list or instantly terminate the requesting application.

Intelligent and more rigorous scrutiny of auto-started objects

Outpost’s heuristic analyzer, part of the antimalware module, screens Windows start-up entries and analyzes contents such as registry startups, services and drivers for the presence of suspicious modules.

Security components selection

Advanced users can now configure the list of installed components during the set-up process. The wizard greets a user with a request to either stick with the “by default” configuration or select preferred components (the firewall and host protection are, naturally, always present and you can't opt to disable them).

System requirements, pricing, and availability

Outpost 2009 is compatible with Windows Vista SP1, XP SP3, and Server 2008 as well as all previous 32- and 64-bit versions from Windows 2000 onwards. All three products will work smoothly on a 450 MHz or faster CPU (x-86/x-64/multi-core) with 256Mb RAM.

The New Year editions of Outpost Firewall Pro, Outpost Antivirus Pro and Outpost Security Suite Pro 2009 are available for $39.95, $19.95 and $49.95, respectively.

Note! Agnitum prolongs the “lifetime for 1 year” campaign for its products, which means that you can still buy a 3 PCs lifetime license for Outpost Firewall Pro and Outpost Security Suite Pro for the price of a one-year license until January 31, 2009!

Trial versions of Outpost 2009 NY Edition products can be downloaded from:

http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/download.php,
http://www.agnitum.com/products/antivirus/download.php and
http://www.agnitum.com/products/security-suite/download .php.

Pavel Goryakin
Agnitum

Outpost – lifetime license for 3 PCs for the price of a 1-year! Till the end of Jan'09!

2008-12-29T15:07:00.003+03:00

According to numerous requests, we are prolonging the special offer of Outpost lifetime licenses until January 31, 2009!

Hurry up to purchase a lifetime license (including updates and support) of Outpost Firewall Pro or Outpost Security Suite Pro, valid for three PCs, for the price of a 1-year license by the end of January!

Check out the offer to give yourself and your nearest ones an ever-important present of online safety and bulletproof PC defense.

Note! On purchasing these lifetime licenses you'll be able to use the same key for ALL future versions of Outpost Firewall Pro and Outpost Security Suite.

Existing discounts, free renewals and upgrades from previously purchased products CANNOT be applied to this offer.

Outpost Firewall Pro Lifetime License = $39.95
Outpost Security Suite Lifetime License = $49.95

The offer is valid until January 31, 2009. Take advantage!

Outpost – lifetime license for 3 PCs for the price of a 1-year!

2008-12-22T20:00:00.003+03:00

As a gift for the Holidays of the Season, we’re launching an unprecedented offer for the period between December 22, 2008 and December 31, 2008!

Hurry up to purchase a lifetime license (including updates and support) of Outpost Firewall Pro or Outpost Security Suite Pro, valid for three PCs, for the price of a 1-year license by the end of 2008!

By purchasing a 1-year license you receive eternal protection ensured by Outpost’s acclaimed features:

- Advanced firewall for secure connections;
- Combined antivirus* and antispyware for all-in-one malware defense;
- Host protection to block zero-day threats;
- Web control to protect your PC from web-borne threats;
- Antispam* to automatically keep your inbox junk-free.

* Only in Outpost Security Suite Pro.

Note! On purchasing these lifetime licenses you'll be able to use the same key for ALL future versions of Outpost Firewall Pro and Outpost Security Suite.

No existing discounts, renewals or upgrades can be applied to this offer.

Check out the offer to give yourself and your nearest ones an ever-important present of online safety and bulletproof PC defense.

The offer is valid until December 31, 2008. Take advantage!

It's time to migrate to OSS 2009 from older versions

2008-11-26T16:55:00.005+03:00

As Agnitum is going to cease the support of obsolete antivirus bases (due to the implementation of a new mechanism) from December 1, 2008, you need to migrate from older versions of Outpost Security Suite Pro (2007 and early builds of 2008), which will stop getting antivirus updates at the end of this month — to the 2009 version.

There is no cost to migrate to Outpost Security Suite Pro 2009 for users having an active OSS license. Just download the latest product version and insert the license key from your current version!

Please take into account that migrating from Outpost Antivirus Pro 2008 is not obligatory.

While the older versions of OSS will continue to work, the virus protection will gradually get more and more out of date, reducing your protection, so we do recommend you migrate at the earliest opportunity. Upgrading to OSS 2009 will ensure the newest and most relevant antivirus, antispyware and web control updates as well as all the other benefits of Outpost Security Suite Pro 2009, including:

Revamped interface that lets you take care of all settings with just a couple of clicks
New SmartScan technology that speeds malware scans and improves overall performance
Enhanced host protection and anti-keylogger functionality
IP block list to keep web surfing clean
Antispam support for The Bat!, and much more!

Take advantage of the latest protection and stay safe online with Agnitum!

Pavel Goryakin
Agnitum

How Outpost Firewall "Lost" a Firewall Challenge, or a Few Words About PR Techniques

2008-11-13T10:26:00.008+03:00

Many of you are likely frequent readers of Matousec Transparent Security Lab’s white papers and tests, including the Firewall Challenge. The Firewall Challenge is intended to show firewalls’ and security suites’ capabilities in resisting “leaktests” (tests that simulate data leakage) and other lesser-known ways of bypassing protection.

As can be seen from the list of solutions tested, both standalone firewalls and security suites are submitted for this report. One of those security suites is Kaspersky Internet Security 2009, which holds 7th place in the ratings with a score of 87% across 73 tests, a “very good” protection level, and a complexity level of “10+”.

Agnitum’s products have traditionally enjoyed well-earned leadership in these tests for several years. Currently Outpost Firewall Pro 2009 holds 1st place with 99% (the build tested was an initial one, released July 1, 2008), “excellent” protection and complexity level “10” (minor errors revealed by the test were fixed in subsequent builds, which enables us to claim a 100% result on all suggested levels if the product were retested in its current condition).

So here is our question. Why did a product with a lower total score receive a higher complexity level– 10+? The answer is actually quite simple. To reach a higher level, a product must get no less than 50% at the current level. The products that managed to pass two rather esoteric tests at the last – 10th level – received a 10+ mark according to this criterion. However, this showing doesn’t have a crucial impact on the final results, as a product can marginally pass all previous levels with just 50% and still show a higher result on the last level.

As for Outpost solutions, it’s no secret that Agnitum offers an integrated solution as well: Outpost Security Suite Pro, based on the standalone Outpost Firewall Pro and incorporating the same arsenal of proactive measures. As a suite, Outpost Security Suite Pro also includes antivirus and antispam capabilities, but these tools don’t play any significant role in the Matousec tests, nor do they interfere with the test procedures (even in the performance segment).

Now, let’s take a look at this article (one of many published world-wide on the Internet). Now take another look at a new so-called “test leader” - Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 (the 7th in the overall rating, as noted above)! Surprised? It’s worth noting that Kaspersky Lab doesn’t take Outpost’s results into account because the most recent build of Agnitum’s security suite “hasn’t been tested by Matousec” and, therefore does not even merit a mention as far as Kapersky is concerned.

However, both Agnitum’s products are so close in their proactive protection and anti-leak capabilities that it seems to us rather strange to separate their achievements and give the winner’s crown to another vendor’s product – a security suite! – in the Firewall Challenge.
We’re confident that those who are interested in this topic are smart enough to read between the lines and make their own independent analysis of the test results. Here’s the link once again: http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php.

While we fully support Kaspersky’s efforts to promote the Matousec tests as a reliable source of information about the robustness of security products, we believe that the tests and their results should be weighted to reflect accurately the likelihood of users encountering each situation in the real world.

Below is the data derived from the Matousec tests (courtesy of Kaspersky Lab which created the initial chart, to which we have added the Outpost results).

By the way, Outpost demonstrated a 100% result on all levels but two while Kaspersky Internet Security scored 100% just on 4 levels out of 10. We leave you to draw your own conclusions …

Vitaly Yanko
Director of Marketing and Sales, Agnitum

Agnitum’s Outpost Security Suite Pro continues its winning streak in VB 100% tests - now under Windows Server 2008

2008-10-01T14:52:00.003+04:00

We are glad to announce the results of the latest anti-virus tests carried out by Virus Bulletin magazine on Outpost Security Suite Pro 2009 and 24 other personal anti-virus and security suite products running under Windows Server 2008.

According to Virus Bulletin, “Combining the company’s own highly regarded ﬁrewall technology with a range of security extras including anti-malware detection provided by the VirusBuster engine, the product once again put in a solid performance, with a slick and well-designed interface and smooth, stable running”.

“In the clean sets scanning times were fairly good, and an absence of false positives grants Agnitum its second VB100 in a row.”

Just to remind you, Outpost Security Suite Pro 2009 offers:

• All-in-one anti-malware for comprehensive antivirus and antispyware defense with the improved SmartScan technology which makes malware scans up to 10 times faster
• A two-way firewall to safeguard connections and prevent data leakage
• Extended Host protection to protect against zero-day threats and anti-keylogger to avoid spying on the data entered through a keyboard
• Web control for safe surfing and blocking unwanted content
• IP Blocklist to blacklist specified Internet domains and restrict incoming and outgoing traffic from sites with bad reputations
• Self-learning anti-spam that integrates directly into Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Vista Mail and The Bat!

This another VB100 was preceded with two awards for Outpost Firewall Pro 2009 granted by WebUser magazine (UK) and ProtectStar Test Lab (US-Germany).

More information on the latest firewall awards can be found at:

http://www.webuser.co.uk/products/Outpost_Firewall_Pro_2009_review_4669-203.html

http://www.protectstar-testlab.org/award/protectstar-testlab-fw-vergleich0809_web.pdf (in German,PDF document)

The latest editions of Outpost Firewall Pro and Outpost Security Suite Pro are available for download at:

http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/download.php and http://www.agnitum.com/products/security-suite/download.php respectively.

Alexey Belkin,

Chief Software Architect, Agnitum