The problem of untrusted networks and PC's

The demand for stronger internet web browsing security protection cannot be overemphasized. This demand is driven by the increasing use of the internet for e-commerce, online banking and other activities requiring the confidential exchange of information . It is further accentuated by the increasing threat of a myriad of internet fraud techniques, such as phishing, key logging and man-in-the-middle attacks .

To combat against malware infections, PCs are typically protected with anti-malware software products produced by firms such as Symantec and McAfee to detect and eliminate this malicious code. Although anti-malware products have improved significantly and succeed in protecting against many malware attacks, they are nowhere close to eliminating all malware. These products are based on signature or fingerprint filtering techniques that are only effective against “known” malware. These signature-filtering techniques do not provide full protection because they are always catching up with new malware. In particular, they are unable to provide protection against new malware between the time that new malware starts infecting PCs connected to the internet and the time that PC users receive upgraded anti-malware software capable of recognizing and destroying this new malware. Closing this gap is particularly difficult because hackers are spreading about 20 new malwares daily on the internet and it usually takes a few hours to develop and distribute antidotes against newly detected malware . Moreover, as the table below shows, the inadvertent downloading of malware from the internet by PC users has become practically unavoidable.

In this context, a 2006 eWeek study found that 92% of all PCs were infected with an average of seven pieces of adware, spyware, and other types of malware.  Moreover, a large portion of this malware is reportedly stealing passwords and logging keystrokes with the intent of profiting from identity theft.   According to The Anti-Phishing Working Group, the number of unique password-stealing malwares disseminated through the internet during the past year has oscillated between 180 and 345 a month (see chart below).

Secure-Surfer™ is a fail-safe, easy to use and inexpensive means for eliminating the shortcomings of today’s solutions for protecting internet web browsing communications.