IT security company ESET launched ESET Smart Security 9 and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 9 in Johannesburg to coincide with the global launch of its latest offering centred around user protection.

The user interface on the two security solutions for Windows home users has been re-engineered, the company claims, and ESET Smart Security 9 features a new tool to protect customers' banking transactions and online payments.

Brandon Bester, channel manager at ESET cited results from a survey on the extent of worldwide cybercrime conducted by market research firm Columinate.

"South Africa is actually the third highest cybercrime hotspot in the world and fifty percent of credit card fraud is actually from online banking, which I was actually quite surprised to hear because I always thought a large percentage of it would be from credit card scamming instead."

ESET Smart Security 9 offers Banking & Payment Protection as a result of the increase in fraudulent activities associated with online banking.

Bester told ITWeb Africa that consumer feedback also indicates that cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated when it comes to defrauding those banking through the internet.

"As consumers now we are bombarded with a lot of information and we try to multitask all the time and tend to make decisions very spontaneously. You don't really pay attention to the fact that the URL in the standard Bank email is wrong," Bester remarked.

ESET Smart Security 9 includes technologies such as Botnet Protection, Exploit Blocker and Vulnerability Shield. Botnet Protection protects the user's computer from being taken over by a remote attacker and used as part of a network of infected computers for malicious purposes.

"This feature secures the user's browser of choice to ensure that all their online financial transactions are processed safely – for online banking sites it works automatically," the company explains.

ESET announced that Smart Security 9 and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 9 are both compatible with Microsoft's newest operating system, Windows 10.

The company says the ESET Smart Security 9 as an all-in-one Internet security solution built around the legendary ESET NOD32® detection technology.

Carey van Vlaanderen, CEO at ESET Southern Africa emphasised that threats to consumer's banking accounts led to influenced development of the new products.

"The demand for such a feature arose from the growing use of online banking by consumers worldwide, which has made this service a target for cyber criminals. ESET products are engineered with a multi-layered approach that protects users from all types of threats at different levels.

"We see a constant increase in malware that targets banking and financial information and operations, and while we have technologies in place that can block them, ESET has designed a completely new feature that improves the experience of our customers and secures their online money-related activities at a whole different level."