AOL Ramps Up Cyber Security
Nov. 19, 2004 — -- In this week's "Cybershake", we take a look at how America Online is shoring up its software to help protect AOL members from Internet security threats. Plus, we note what high-tech items are most likely on everyone's wish list this holiday season.
America Online has seen better days. Back when the online service provider first started offering its members access to the Internet, computer viruses and worms were hardly on anyone's mind. But how things have changed.
"We done a lot of work over the past year over what our members care about and what our members worry about," says Danny Krifcher, executive vice president of AOL. "At the top of their list is online safety and security."
Enter AOL 9.0 Security Edition, the latest software update the company offers to members in order to access the service. Included in the new software is a complete suite of online security tools such as a complete antivirus program from software maker McAfee.
Krifcher says that AOL members have always had access to such tools -- provided they were willing to pay an additional $3.95 per month. But with 9.0 Security Edition, all AOL members have access to virus and other online threat protection for free.
"Virus protection software isn't a nice to have ... It's a must have," says Krifcher. "So we made the decision to take something that had been a premium service for us and offer it free to all of our members as part of their core subscription price."
The new AOL software also includes tools to block pop-up ads, filters to help control offensive junk messages in e-mail and Instant Messages. More importantly, the update adds a new "SpyZapper," a software tool designed to protect against programs that clandestinely watch a user's online activity and steal information such as passwords and bank account numbers.
Although smart online users have been using such tools to help protect their PCs, Krifcher says that since the tools are now built into the software, "We're able to do things that standalone pieces of [security] software can't do."
