Avira Teams with Secure.Me for Facebook Security

Privacy and security concerns come with the territory when you use a social network like Facebook. Avira is partnering with secure.me to deliver protection that extends beyond traditional malware, and helps defend your personal information and reputation as well.

Avira and secure.me announced at CES 2012 in Las Vegas that they are joining forces to deliver broader, more comprehensive security for users. The Avira Internet Security 2012 bundle will include Facebook security services from secure.me.

Security awareness and tools are still playing catch up with the evolving threat posed by social networking. Christian Sigl, founder of secure.me, explains, “Today, basically everybody protects their PC with antivirus software. With the use of social networks and extensive online sharing, a new type of vulnerability has evolved, in fact the violability of your own and your children’s personal data, privacy and identity.”

Facebook provides plenty of security and privacy controls — in fact, possibly too many for average users. It can be confusing to understand all of the ways your data and personal information are shared and exposed across Facebook, and to implement the security controls to lock your information down.

Secure.me is part of a new wave of security tools, like BitDefender Safego, aimed at protecting you on social network. Assuming it lives up to the claims, the secure.me services could be a valuable addition for Facebook users.

The addition of the secure.me services to the Avira Internet Security 2012 product promises to simplify the process. Secure.me provides advice and recommended actions to help users navigate and configure the Facebook security settings.

Secure.me monitors the designated Facebook profile, and its network of connected Facebook profiles to detect and identify any scams, or posts that might be a threat to your privacy. It also uses facial recognition to scan Facebook and locate any photos of you — whether they’re tagged or not — to give you control over your reputation and how you’re portrayed on the social network.

Aside from the secure.me aspects, the Avira Internet Security 2012 suite also includes the standard array of antimalware and PC security tools. It offers comprehensive protection including antimalware, personal firewall, rootkit detection, parental controls, and more.

Customers that purchase the Avira Internet Security 2012 suite will also get 12 months of premium access to the full feature set of secure.me, and the Facebook protection it provides. The Avira and secure.me product bundle is available today for $59.99 (US) and $64.27 (Canada). Consumers can purchase and download the bundle at: www.avira.com/securemeoffer.

For more blogs, stories, photos, and video from the nation’s largest consumer electronics show, check out PCWorld’s complete coverage of CES 2012.