McAfee Visual Trace Empowers Parents and Law Enforcement to Deter Illicit Online Activity
Graphical Trace-Route Capability as Demonstrated on ‘The Oprah Show’ Aids In Apprehending Online Predators
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — McAfee.com (Nasdaq: MCAF), a leading provider of Web security services, today announced that the company’s advanced graphical trace utility, demonstrated last week on “The Oprah Show,” is proving to be a valuable tool in deterring and apprehending online criminals.
McAfee Visual Trace (previously “NeoTrace”) is a graphical trace utility designed to give users the ability to trace incoming Internet traffic, including potential hacker attacks, email and instant messages. The utility provides specific information such as the network used by potential culprits and the geographical location of their computers.
Recently, police detective Mike Sullivan demonstrated the McAfee Visual Trace product to viewers of The Oprah Show dedicated to the topic of “Online Child Stalkers.” While illustrating the importance of protecting children on the Internet, Sullivan used the McAfee Visual Trace product to trace the location of a person allegedly participating in an inappropriate chat with a minor. This information frequently proves instrumental in apprehending culprits, according to law enforcement professionals.
“Most of the online child predators we see today are not that technologically savvy,” said detective Mike Sullivan. “Most of them are under the impression that they have complete anonymity while on the Internet. Products like McAfee Visual Trace ensure that this is not the case. This product takes the anonymity out of the Internet and works as a solid deterrent against using it for various types of illegal activity.”
McAfee Visual Trace maps the route from the user’s computer to the culprit’s computer and all connecting nodes through a world map view. By revealing this information, parents have a powerful tool to help discourage online predators from attempting to engage in illicit activities with minors. “McAfee Visual Trace empowers parents to go online and quickly find out who their child is talking to and where that person is coming from on the Internet,” said Sullivan. “With this information, parents can go to the police and learn the identity of the predator. We use this product every day. I don’t think you’ll find a Cyber Cop across the country that isn’t familiar with it.”
The same graphically-based technology used in McAfee Visual Trace has been incorporated into McAfee.com’s Personal Firewall Plus (scheduled for release in the current quarter) but with a focus on identifying suspicious intrusion attempts on a PC while users are connected to the Internet.
“The new Personal Firewall Plus will trace activity in a similar fashion, but rather than tracking email and instant messages, it will trace events such as when a system is being probed or scanned for open, unsecured ports — activities commonly used by hackers to gain access to vulnerable home computers,” said Brent Lymer, director of product marketing at McAfee.com. “This, we expect, will provide a further deterrent to hackers and other malicious code writers.”
McAfee Visual Trace is currently available at www.mcafee.com.
About McAfee.com
McAfee.com Corporation is a world-leading provider of Web security, optimization and maintenance services. Using a patented system and process of delivering software through an Internet browser, McAfee.com has redefined how software is developed, delivered and experienced by PC users at home and at work, virtually eliminating the need to install, configure and manage the technology on a local PC or network. McAfee.com hosts software application services on its vast technology infrastructure and provides these services to users online through its Web site www.mcafee.com. McAfee.com has signed up more than 1.3 million paid active subscribers, making it one of the largest subscription sites on the Internet. The company estimates that 30% of its subscriber base is international.
For more information, contact McAfee.com at 408-992-8100 or visit http://www.mcafee.com .
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