One Million American Consumers Now Rely on Verizon for More Secure Online Experience

NEW YORK - More than 1 million consumers now turn to the Verizon Internet Security Suite for comprehensive protection from spyware, computer viruses and online fraud.

[Note: To learn more about the importance of online security, visit http://newscenter2.verizon.com/kit/security-suite/]

Utilizing online security software that is automatically updated every three hours, the Verizon Internet Security Suite attracts hundreds of new users on a daily basis, recently surpassing the 1-million-subscriber mark.

Earlier this year, Verizon announced that it had added online fraud protection and a PC tuneup tool to the Verizon Internet Security Suite, complementing an already powerful lineup of protection features.

"More consumers every day are taking advantage of Verizon Internet Security Suite's no-nonsense approach to identifying and combating the malicious elements lurking on the Web," said Bill Heilig, vice president of Verizon Broadband Solutions. "When packaged with the speed and reliability of Verizon broadband service, the value and effectiveness of our security tools quickly become apparent to new users."

In addition to the recently added fraud protection and PC Tune-Up features, Verizon's Internet Security Suite includes:

• Anti-virus - Helps protect against known malicious viruses, worms and Trojans by detecting them, removing them and cleaning the affected files. The service runs in the background and blocks incoming virus attacks and related threats, including e-mail. Updates occur every three hours and are transparent to the end-user.

• Anti-spyware - Offers powerful, up-to-date protection that automatically detects and eliminates a broad range of the spyware and tracking software that inappropriately tracks personal information and is widely responsible for degrading PC performance and online access.  This service acts as a preventive step against the installation of hidden programs in a customer's system and can detect and remove more than 60,000 kinds of spyware.
• Firewall - Acts as a shield to automatically block unauthorized intrusions, malicious hackers and other hostile attempts to access customers' computers. The Firewall is an easy-to-use, yet powerful defense for both dial-up and high-speed connections.
• Parental controls - Allows consumers to monitor and manage Internet usage by determining the types of content and specific sites that may be accessed. Parents can also define appropriate Internet usage and schedules, and block access to non-permitted Internet Web sites.
• Pop-up/ad blocker - Helps ensure a browsing session that is faster and less cluttered by blocking online ads such as pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, animations and tile ads.
• Privacy manager - Scans all outgoing communications for sensitive or identifying information to help prevent its release without user consent. It also provides control over cookies and how much information Web sites record about browsing habits.  And it has a cleanup utility feature that allows users to automatically remove traces of data left behind by Internet browsers and other programs.
• Content management - Enables small-business customers to increase employee productivity by controlling the time of day and day of week for Internet access as well as ensuring users do not receive or have access to sites not intended for them.

While some security products appear daunting to install and update, the Verizon Internet Security Suite offers a simplified download and then operates in the background to protect Internet users on several different fronts.  The Verizon service has the added advantage of updating security software every three hours to make sure subscribers have up-to-date security tools to protect them.

The Verizon Internet Security Suite is available for a low monthly price of $4.99 from one of the most trusted network and Internet service providers. Many security products only include one of these services, and the customer must pay an additional charge for the others. By offering a comprehensive service, Verizon helps users stay protected on several fronts, with a minimal amount of effort.

The Verizon Internet Security Suite utilizes advanced technology from Radialpoint, provider of managed Internet security services.

More information regarding Verizon's security suite is available at www.verizon.net/VISS.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 67 million customers nationwide.  Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon employed a diverse workforce of approximately 232,000 as of the end of the first quarter 2008 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of $93.5 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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