The Internet giant now offers a free Anti-Virus Program

After deciding to make its services free and to offer 5 GB of online storage, Time Warner’s Internet division, America Online, come with another free service as part of its reinventing campaign.

Starting August 7, AOL offers a new free anti-virus program, for all online users. The service is powered by Kaspersky, one of the largest Internet security solutions providers, and offers advanced detection technology to stop viruses, spyware, malware and Trojans before they attack, as well as real-time scanning of files and email.

The service, called Active Virus Shield, comes as a downloadable software that automatically updates every hour, offering an easy and convenient way for consumers to protect themselves from the thousands of new Internet threats created each month.

“The consumer PC security experience is long overdue for re-invention. With so many consumers online with inadequate security safeguards, it is time to make things like virus protection a fundamental right, not a risk,” said John McKinley, President of AOL Digital Services. “AOL has always been committed to protecting online users from threats to their safety, and Active Virus Shield is a key product in AOL’s comprehensive free line-up of safety and security offerings, which range from free protection and diagnostic tools like Active Security Monitor to all-in-one security services. To us, it’s a simple value proposition - AVS is a great free anti-virus solution for today’s online households and is one of the most advanced offerings in the market.”

Key features of Active Virus Shield include a combination of traditional signature-based detection with in-depth scanning, real-time file protection to scan individual files, catalogs and disks on access or the ability to focus solely on critical areas of the operating system or new and modified files and email protection for both incoming and outgoing email.

Active Virus Shield regularly notifies users of their current protection status and during times of increased user activity, it allocates more resources and processing power to the user to help ensure that virus scans do not slow down other activities.

For IE users, AOL has prepared a free security toolbar which will include a real-time update on their computer’s security status via Active Security Monitor, a password manager, pop-up blocker, and a link to the Whois domain registration database to find more information on potentially suspicious sites.

The software can be downloaded at this address free of charge and with no obligation or AOL membership required to use it.