News

September 16, 2009

ProtectStar Test Lab honors A-Squared Anti Malware 4.5 with the ProtectStar AWARD 2009

Miami, FL, USA 16.09.2009 – ProtectStar Inc., an independent and globally operating company for IT and communication security, has given the ProtectStar™ AWARD 2009 to A Squared Anti Malware 4.5.

The latest version 4.5 of A-Squared Anti Malware from Emsi Software – leading European provider of behavior analysis technology for analyzing software, especially Malware – was awarded the ProtectStar Award 2009 for its outstanding total performance.

The a-squared engine was originally developed for recognition of Spyware and Trojans and achieved a certain level of recognition in this area. The engine also detects Cookies and Spyware. The second engine specializes in the detection of Viruses, Worms and other types of Malware.

“However, Emsi Software went one step further and also integrated a third line of defense in their protection system: Behavior recognition” said Mr. Oliver Rosenow from ProtectStar Test Lab.

The evaluation focused on the following test criteria:
security, user-friendliness, performance, the price/equipment ratio and support

The test report is available free for download from www.protectstar-testlab.org or www.protectstar.com

 

April 08, 2009

Is the fight against cybercrime already a lost cause?

Miami, FL, USA, April 8, 2009 – ProtectStar™ Inc., an independent and globally operating company for IT and communication security, plans to conduct an internal study aimed at answering the question: Is the fight against cybercrime already a lost cause?

The cybercrime situation is worsening virtually every day as enterprises, government organizations and computer users seek to keep up with the various threats in cyberspace. This has prompted ProtectStar™ Inc., in cooperation with ProtectStar™ Research and ProtectStar™ Test Lab, to address this issue in the coming months by analyzing and evaluating the IT security products of over 40 vendors.

The study aims to shed light on current and future cyberthreats, as well as protective measures against them such as virus scanners, firewalls, proactive protective mechanisms, and intrusion prevention, to name but a few.
The study will mainly focus on the methods used by modern IT security products such as malware scanners and proactive protective mechanisms to deal with professional malware.

“The IT security industry is the only sector that has the capacity to protect itself and others against criminal activities in the cyber-underground. Moreover, wide-ranging observations have shown that there is a clear need for action to an extent that has yet to be determined,” notes ProtectStar™ CEO Christopher Bohn.

It is essential that the answer to the question posed by the study – i.e. has the information technology industry already lost the war against cybercrime? – be a resounding no, because otherwise there will be no stopping cyber-crime.
Once the study results have been released, they will be posted at www.protectstar.com

December 11, 2008

ProtectStar Inc announces this years’ ProtectStar AWARD winners from major names in Internet security

Miami, FL; December 11, 2008 – Miami-based ProtectStar Inc, an independent, internationally active IT and communications security specialist, has announced its annual awards after testing major Internet security suites again this year.

Fourteen major names were put to a thorough series of tests at the ProtectStar™ Test Lab together with AV-Comparatives. The final assessment focused on security, usability and performance as well as cost-effectiveness and features.
Security played a major role in grading the contenders, with the testers placing especially high priority on fundamental protection functionality at default configuration.

Symantec’s Norton Internet Security 2009 held on to last year’s top-ranking position, the number of improvements on the previous version along with its excellent performance and security functions taking it to the top of the crop.
Despite the complexity of the total assessment system, this year saw the first tie for second place with Avira Premium Security 2009 and Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 achieving an equal score.

All three products received the ProtectStar™ AWARD 2009 – not least due to the extremely close test results.
Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 also won the ProtectStar™ Firewall AWARD for 2009. The integrated firewall in this security suite was the only contender to fulfill all of the criteria for this award due to its excellent protection functionality in external and internal security and its detailed logs and warning pop-ups.

The test report complete with results is available at the following ProtectStar™ web addresses:
http://www.protectstar-testlab.org
 

May 08, 2008

ProtectStar™ to relocate its corporate headquarters to Miami, FL, USA

Bradenton, FL, USA 08/05/2008 – ProtectStar Inc., an independent and globally operating company for IT and communication security, is to relocate its corporate headquarters to Miami, FL, USA, on 1 June 2008.

At the same time, the charitable ProtectStar™ Foundation will move into new business premises at the same address.The 250-mile move from Bradenton down to Miami will take place on 1 June 2008, creating extra room for the increasing number of personnel.

“Although we’d planned to move around the end of 2008/beginning of 2009, we decided to go for it now before we really started bursting at the seams,” jested Christopher Bohn, CEO of ProtectStar™ Inc., amongst his management team while attending an international symposium on mobile security in Geneva.

From 1 June 2008, ProtectStar™ will be located at the following address:

444 Brickell Avenue
Suite 51103
Miami, FL, USA 33131

ProtectStar™, Inc.’s toll-free telephone and fax numbers for the USA will remain the same.

April 21, 2008

ProtectStar™ security suites – test report available in English

Bradenton, FL, USA; April 21, 2008 – The international independent IT and communication security specialists at ProtectStar Inc. is to publish an English-language version of its test report today.

After extraordinarily favourable reactions – around 47,000 downloads to date – the company has announced publication of the English translation of the report, which was previously only available in German.
The download numbers are a clear sign of customer interest in internet security suite product and feature transparency. Currently, there are around twenty similar products available with highly variable features. The unwillingness of some manufacturers to have their products subjected to testing had to be taken into account; however, the thirteen manufacturers that agreed to tests were indeed convinced of the quality of their own products.

Once again, ProtectStar™ turned out to be on the right track in configuring and selecting points of emphasis in its test system.
Security, usability and performance, and value for money were well-adjusted to the user market. The copious levels of positive feedback on the ProtectStar™ website, speciality forums and blogs also go to show that ProtectStar™ made the right selection decisions.

The test report is available free for download from http://www.protectstar-testlab.org

March 19, 2008

ProtectStar™ Test Lab honours 3 manufacturers of Internet security suites with the ProtectStar™ AWARD 2008

Bradenton, FL, USA 19/03/2008 – ProtectStar Inc., an independent and globally operating company for IT and communication security, has given the ProtectStar™ AWARD 2008 to the security solutions of the manufacturers Symantec, Trend Micro and Avira.

Products from 13 well-known manufacturers of Internet security suites in total were tested.

This time, 3 products all received the ProtectStar™ AWARD. This was simply because the deviations in the excellent test results were only minimal and therefore hardly impacted on the quality criteria.

The current group of testers included both home users as well as professionals with in-depth knowledge of daily business (server/PC administrators and IT security personnel). As in the past, the experts at the ProtectStar™ Test Lab once again lead-managed the organisation and execution of the testing.

The evaluation focused on the following test criteria:
security, user-friendliness, performance and the price/equipment ratio

The "security” segment had particular significance in the evaluation scale. The testers paid close attention to the basic protective functions of the Internet security suites following installation and in their factory defaults.

Interested parties can download the complete and comprehensive test report on the comparison test – available in German only initially – and a list of all of the products tested and their manufacturers free of charge.

March 04, 2008

2008 Internet security suites – latest test results available from mid-March onwards

Bradenton, FL, USA - 04/03/2008 – ProtectStar™ Inc., an independent and globally operating company for IT and communication security, has announced that comprehensive test results will be published in mid-March 2008.

Already in advance of this, management at the ProtectStar™ test centre has let it be known that work on evaluating the test results is proceeding at full steam in order to stay within the specified timeframe for the announcement. There are no confidentiality rules preventing the advance naming of the manufacturers of the products taking part in the test (in alphabetical order):

Agnitum              Kaspersky
Avira                     McAfee
BitDefender        Microsoft
BullGuard           Panda Security
Eset                     Symantec
F-Secure             Trend Micro
G DATA

In cooperation with AV Comparatives (www.av-comparatives.org), represented by Mr. Andreas Clementi, who is responsible for determining the malware detection rates, testers from various specialist backgrounds have taken part in the test series.

A new evaluation system and the use of various test categories, such as security, user-friendliness, performance, support and the price/performance ratio, point to the transparency and traceability of the results.

Further information is available at www.protectstar-testlab.org

December 19, 2007

Savernova receives ProtectStar AWARD 2008

Bradenton, FL, USA  19.12.2007 – ProtectStar, Inc., an international independent company specialising in IT and communications security, has given Savernova’s authentication solution Network ID the ProtectStar AWARD 2008.

Savernova’s security solutions for private users and companies combine maximum security and user friendliness with low costs. The Savernova Network ID authentication solution manages PC and network access securely without the need for additional hardware. The integrated One-Time-Password (OTP) technology offers additional protection by generating a new password for every login.

Test engineers at the ProtectStar test lab have analysed the current Savernova Network ID security solution. The result is clear: "The test series have clearly shown that, with its software-based security solution Savernova Network ID, Savernova possesses a large number of positive improvements compared to similar competitive products that are mainly hardware-based. In addition to the innovative techniques and the comfortable user-friendliness, very good basic protection and the high reliability of the product can be pointed out."

Based on the consistently outstanding test results, the solution was given the ProtectStarTM AWARD 2008. The complete test report is available free of charge on the ProtectStarTM Testlab website at www.protectstar-testlab.org

June 15, 2007

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) from ProtectStar, Inc. improved

Bradenton, FL, USA  15.06.2007 – ProtectStar Inc., the independent and globally operating company for IT and Communication Security has made considerable improvements to the current, widely used AES encryption algorithm (Advanced Encryption Standard).

The fusion of the previously independently operating divisions of ProtectStar, Inc. to form the ProtectStar Research & Development business unit is showing its first fruits:

The ProtectStar™ AES encryption algorithm

Like the conventional AES encryption algorithm, the improved version, the ProtectStar AES Algorithm, is also a symmetrical block algorithm.

The difference between the two algorithms lies in the block length of 64 bytes (512 bits). The ProtectStar™ AES encryption algorithm therefore offers a multiple increase in security. The other recognised AES modes will, of course, also be supported (ECB, CBC, OFB, CFB,CTR).
Possible application areas for the ProtectStar™ AES could be, among others:

    * Insurances
    * Investment banks, in particular in the M & A area
    * National and federal authorities
    * Security companies
    * Research and development establishments
    * Group central offices
    * Lawyer and tax consultation offices
    * Military communications systems

More detailed information regarding the function of the ProtectStar™ AES can be found on the following Website: http://www.protectstar.com/2_108_107_.html

May 08, 2007

ProtectStar R & D (Research & Development) - Consolidation of previously independent areas

Bradenton, FL, USA / London, UK, 08.05.2007 – ProtectStar Inc., the independent and globally operating company for IT and communication security, has incorporated the previously independently operating business units (Development, Research and Information) into the newly created central division, Research & Development.

The significance of this new division within the ProtectStar group of companies can be recognised solely from the fact that R & D has been assigned as a direct staff line function to the CEO of ProtectStar Inc., Christopher Bohn.

Among others, the main focus of activity of ProtectStar R & D will be:

    * Development of encryption and data deletion algorithms
    * Analyse of reliable solutions in the area of sensitive data links, mobile communication, firewalls and authentication.
    * Development and targeted research of protective solutions in the area of nanotechnology

Further details regarding the activities of ProtectStar R & D are available on the following Website: www.protectstar-research.com

December 07, 2006

JURA Elektroapparate AG in Niederbuchsiten, Switzerland, receives this year’s ProtectStar Innovation AWARD

London, UK  Dec. 7, 2006 – Global independent IT and communications security company ProtectStar Inc has bestowed its ProtectStar Innovation AWARD to JURA Elektroapparate AG for this longstanding Swiss company’s two innovative products, IMPRESSA Z5 and IMPRESSA Web Pilot.

After two weeks of series testing and evaluation, JURA’s flagship product, IMPRESSA Z5, and its additional IMPRESSA Web Pilot module were selected for this award.
The final clincher for the ProtectStar Innovation Team was the intelligent combination of both solutions – automatic coffee machine and web pilot.

Apart from a recipe and statistics manager, the product also includes an innovative customer-services manager. The Intelligent Pre-Brew Aroma System (IPBAS) also played a decisive role in the JURA products’ favour – a system that gives coffee a distinct edge on quality in taste and aroma.

The modern technology and integrated servicing programmes, elegant design, and high-quality workmanship with the best materials round off the IMPRESSA Z5 perfectly, elevating it to the state of the art.

On presenting the ProtectStar Innovation AWARD to JURA’s General Manager, Emanuel Probst, ProtectStar CEO Christopher Bohn specifically emphasised the company’s forward-thinking concept as well as orientation towards consumer requirements that had played an important part in the development of the two products.

If you love coffee, you might like to read the complete test report available for free (only available in German) at http://www.protectstar-testlab.org