Short-term product integration plans include adding LinkScanner technology to AVG Anti-Virus Free and offering LinkScanner Online, a free on-demand URL scanning service, directly from the AVG Web site. Grisoft also expects to maintain LinkScanner Pro, Exploit Prevention Labs' flagship product, as a standalone offering.

Grisoft and Exploit Prevention Labs will combine their threat research operations, providing research centers on three continents (North America, Australia, and Europe) offering AVG users the benefit of around-the-clock malware research 365 days a year.

Thompson said exploits are the digital equivalent of letter bombs - they are packages of drive-by-downloaded software code that contain any number of different types of malware such as rootkits and password-stealing keyloggers.

"Cybercriminals create or acquire and distribute these exploits to steal users' digital assets such as bank account log-ins, credit card numbers, brokerage account information and social security numbers," he said.

"Unlike traditional virus writers who write malcode for thrills and bragging rights, the cybercriminals behind exploits are out to make a profit.

"Internet users become infected by exploits simply by visiting poisoned Web pages, including trusted and legitimate web sites that have been hacked by cybercriminals."

Thompson said exploits are silent - the user often has no clue their computer has been infected; often, the first sign of infection is when the victim notices mysterious activity in financial accounts.

He said these threats are termed exploits because they exploit vulnerabilities in software products, most commonly operating systems and browsers, but increasingly also affecting media applications like QuickTime and utilities like WinZip.

Thompson said Microsoft's "patch Tuesday" monthly security updates are now routinely followed by "exploit Wednesdays", underscoring the need for agility by security vendors to effectively protect users.

To learn more about exploits, visit the Exploit Prevention Labs Threat Center at http://www.explabs.com/ss/threatcenter.asp

Thompson's computing career began as a mainframe engineer in Australia in 1972. In 1987, he co-founded the first Australian anti-virus company, Leprechaun Software, and launched Virus Buster.

Prior to co-founding Exploit Prevention Labs, he was Director of Malicious Content Research at Computer Associates.

Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Brno, the Czech Republic, Grisoft is a developer of anti-virus, firewall protection and Internet security solutions.

The company's products are distributed globally through its 12,000 resellers including AVG in Melbourne.

AVG (AU/NZ) has over 1300 resellers across Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific.