FILEnetworks Blog: PC Tools ThreatFire Pro 4.0.0.8 – Block known and unknown malware threats

PC-Tools is best known for their registry optimization software Registry Mechanic. Their latest software release titled ThreatFire, is not a system optimizer of any kind but an anti malware application. Why I thought of posting about ThreatFire is because it uses a rather nontraditional way of malware blocking. As you may know, most anti virus and anti spyware applications rely on virus definition files to match virus like code in files and detect threats. This is good but if you fail to update your Anti-Virus software regularly or if your anti virus software vendor does not provide regular updates, you could be risking yourself to zero day attacks and new virus outbreaks.

This is where ThreatFire comes in. It does not rely entirely on virus definitions to block malware. It monitors your system for virus like behavior to detect and block virus like or suspicious activity (aka behavioral blocking). I have not actually used this software extensively so I can’t really speak of the effectiveness. But there is a good review of it on PC MAgazine.

Developer Description

Consumers spend over a billion dollars a year on security software to keep their PCs safe. Every month they spend countless hours configuring and updating their software. And yet every week millions of users are infected by new threats that their traditional antivirus does not stop.

Why? Traditional antivirus solutions cannot protect you until after they've discovered a new threat and produced a signature to counter it.

ThreatFire is different. It does not rely on signatures, but instead constantly analyzes your computer's behavior to detect and block any malicious activity. ThreatFire protects immediately so you know your PC and your valuable data is always secure.

Features

Persistent zero-day threat protection made easy for everyone - even novice users!
Runs in background without impacting system performance.
Automatic updates run silently in the background so ThreatFire is always up-to-date.
NEW! System Activity Monitor displays detailed data on all running processes and allows you to terminate any process on demand. Highest level of out-of-the-box accuracy. No need to configure baffling, technical security settings: just turn ThreatFire on and start blocking malware.
Includes PC Tools AntiVirus's on-demand AV scanner, giving you added peace of mind so you can quickly and easily scan your PC for known threats.
Malware quarantine and removal, rootkit and antivirus scanner, advanced custom rules settings and more!
Perpetually ready for the next malware outbreak - detects malware by watching for malicious behaviors.
Protects against both known and zero-day viruses, worms, trojans, buffer overflows, rootkits and even some spyware.
Patent-pending ActiveDefense technology intelligently scans and analyzes computer processes to detect and block any malicious activity - without false positives!
NEW! Enhanced user interface elements provide more technical details on alerts and interactive reports in ThreatFire's main control panel.
Works alongside most other security programs - there is no need to uninstall your antivirus, anti-spyware, firewall or other security program before installing ThreatFire.