Archive notice: This article was originally published on November 13, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Security company Trend Micro has introduced the first Web security service developed for a game console. With “Trend Micro Web Security for PS3”, dangerous websites are to be blocked through a combination of URL filtering and Web Reputation. The tool is provided as part of an update of the PS3 system software to version 2.00 and is available now.
Gaming consoles that also enable surfing the Web are enjoying increasing popularity. “We are currently experiencing an increased trend toward all-in-one devices”, explains Josef Pichlmayr, Managing Director of Austrian antivirus specialist Ikarus Software, in conversation with pressetext. In view of this trend, the threat to users of gaming systems from malicious websites is also increasing. “Especially in the area of online games, Trojans have repeatedly appeared recently that are intended to spy on players”, Pichlmayr describes and refers in this connection to securityy attacks that recently took place in the virtual online world of SecondLife.
The Trend Micro module was developed especially for the PS3. Based on Web Reputation and URL filter technologies, dangerous and unwanted websites are blocked. Websites in certain categories, such as adult content, can be blocked by the tool found in the PS3 Internet Browser menu. The settings are protected by a password. In addition, however, websites are also checked by the URL filtering system. Here, when a website is accessed, the corresponding addresses are first directed to the Trend Micro databases. There, a filter system assigns the visited pages to certain categories and then evaluates them on the basis of the reputation stored in the database.
The service can be used free of charge by PS3 users until the end of April 2008. After that, however, the service will be subject to a fee. No information can yet be provided about the exact price at the present time, the company said in response to a query from pressetext.
Further links:
- Trendmicro
