"Anti-Executable is white list-based software that fights malware. It stops unauthorized executables and protects computers from unknown viruses that haven't been recognized by blacklist solutions," explained Mr. Farid Ali, President & CEO of Faronics.

Faronics was incorporated in 1996. Their flagship product Deep Freeze has been on the software market since 2000. Deep Freeze is security software that instantly protects and preserves a computer's original configuration. With Deep Freeze installed, all changes made to a computer are eradicated on restart, and the computer is restored to its original state. "We have already sold over five million licenses worldwide," said Mr. Ali.

Faronics is currently marketing their new software Anti-Executable, which was released in June 2005. The concept of Anti-Executable is simple: upon install, it performs a deep scan of the computer and authorizes every single executable on it, placing those executables on a white list. After that, any new executable is deemed "unauthorized" and is never able to install or run. Anti-Executable also has a copy prevention file setting.

"Conventional antivirus software is based on signature technology, or virus definition files. It detects the malware that is already registered in a blacklist. But this method is not able to detect new or unknown malware that is not listed in the blacklist. With the white list concept, all unknown malware is stopped, and there is no need to update definition files," said Ali. However, Anti-Executable does not detect non-executables viruses, such as a script virus or a macro virus. "This is why Faronics recommends using Anti-Executable as well as an antivirus program for better security," said Mr. Ali.

Both Deep Freeze and Anti-Executable come in Standard and Enterprise versions. The Enterprise editions have a console that can centrally manage multiple workstations that have Deep Freeze and/or Anti-Executable installed on them.

For organizations in the Corporate / Government sector, the cost of Deep Freeze Standard is 3,604 Yen per workstation. For Educational institutions, the cost of Deep Freeze is 1,861 Yen per workstation.

For organizations in the Corporate / Government sector, the cost of Anti-Executable Standard is 3,630 Yen per workstation. For Educational institutions, the cost of Anti-Executable is 2,350 Yen per workstation.

All prices listed are for 24 licenses or less. The volume of licenses purchased will affect the price. At the moment, both products have Japanese documentation, but the actual program is available only in English.

"By October, we will have localized versions," said Mr. Shoichi Morita, Networld's Marketing Director. In October, Networld will start download sales.