AVAST ANTIVIRUS WARNS CONSUMERS TO BEWARE OF
“AMERICA’S MOST WANTED“ WEBSITES

First monthly “America’s Most Wanted“ list points to games and popular culture
websites
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avast! virus lab experts offer tips to stay protected during June
(PRAGUE, Czech Republic, June XX, 2010) – This summer, consumers will continue to
scour the web to keep up with their interests and news. While surfing the Internet is
statistically safer than, say surfing in Hawaii, it is not a risk free activity. Around 85 percent of
new computer infections are contracted via the internet; largely through the 396,679 hijacked
and malicious web pages which avast! identified in May.
Landing on an infected site is as simple as just looking for something … games, Hollywood
gossip, even recipes. To keep Americans protected during the hectic summer, AVAST
Software, providers of the avast! antivirus program, has released the first of its “America’s
Most Wanted” roster of the most infected websites, alerting consumers to beware of the
month’s infected websites as well as trends and site genres to approach with caution.
avast! virus labs uncovered an overwhelming popular culture theme during May for the most
infected types of websites. Games, celebrities and celebrity gossip, anime, and televisionand movie-related domains have been infecting users’ computers with malware and other
viruses. Following is a sampling from the month’s “Most Wanted” list:1
Actionfigurecustoms.com
AllCelebsFree.com
AnimeBreaker.com
AnimeFuel.com
Anime-Vids.com
CoachHandbagOutlet.net
FindACeleb.com
Galacticflashgames.com
Gamefactoryinteractive.com
1
The avast! CommunityIQ detected and confirmed infections at the listed websites during the month of May.
Games9x.com
Flashgames247.com
TimBurtonCollective.com
AVAST Software receives non-stop information about infected sites thanks to its
CommunityIQ global network of sensors. This data, taken from the actual web browsing
experiences of an opt-in group, is then used to protect all avast! users by blocking their
access to infected sites.
During May 2010, avast! kept over one million users a day from accessing infected sites.
The number of visits to individual infected sites jumped by 52%, with each site receiving an
average 89 visitors, up from the previous level of 59. At the same time, the number of
reported infected domains dropped by over 30% to 396,679.
“This is bad news for the general public as it means there are more infections at high profile,
legitimate sites with a high visit rate,” explains Ondrej Vlcek, avast! Chief Technology Officer.
“Sites are targeted just because they are commonly visited. This is true for pop culture sites,
especially ones that focus on celebrities and celebrity gossip. While users should be
cautious, most on-line hazards can simply not be seen. For this reason, avast! is more
reliable than your own eyes for keeping malware out of your computer.”
Additionally, avast! found that sites like Ask.com and EarthLink.net put users at risk in a
different way – savvy computer hackers target these top-level domains to redirect the user to
their own separate page which then infects the user‘s computer.
To help keep users protected against the month’s most infected websites, avast! offers the
following ways to steer clear of hackers and malware:

Mind where you go. P2P and download WAREZ sites are known sources for
malware. Cracked copies of your favorite movie or game might contain more than
you think.

Watch where you click. Don’t click on all search engine results or pop-ups that
suddenly appear on your computer. You might get yourself infected with a fake
security program.
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Stay up to date. Keep your browser and related programs up-to-date with the
newest security updates. This will reduce the opportunity for hacker to take over your
computer through a known vulnerability.

Get a good antivirus program. Make sure you have a certified antivirus program
properly installed which includes a web shield to protect against on-line threats.
About avast! antivirus products
AVAST Software protects over 100 million registered users in over 240 countries with its
avast! antivirus program. avast! Free Antivirus sets the standard as a free, full-featured
computer security application that matches or exceeds the performance of other paid
products. The avast! 5.0 portfolio includes Free Antivirus, Pro Antivirus for customized
protection, and the premium Internet Security with its no-hassle Silent Firewall. Anchored by
the CommunityIQ network of sensors for reporting on-line threats and supported by multiple
protective shields, avast! performance is certified by Checkmark, ICSA Labs and West Coast
Labs (for both antivirus and anti-malware) and regularly wins Virus Bulletin’s VB100 award
for detection of 100% of in-the-wild viruses. Available in around 30 languages, avast!
provides global protection for homes and businesses that speaks your language. Be free
with avast!
CONTACT:
Briana Papa
Crenshaw Communications
Phone: 646-484-4573
E-mail: briana@crenshawcomm.com
www.crenshawcomm.com
Lyle Frink
AVAST Software
Phone: 00420-274-005-787
E-mail: pr@avast.com
www.avast.com