Trend Micro Offers Web Security for PS3s

Security and antivirus company Trend Micro has announced an online security product for the PlayStation 3...and it's free through April 2008.

Security and antivirus software developer Trend Micro has announced a new security product: and it’s not what you might think. Beginning today, Trend Micro is offering Trend Micro Web Security for PS3, with the capability to block malicious Web sites based on both URL filtering and aggregate “reputation” information.

As game consoles become more capable, surfing the Internet via a game console is becoming a more common activity, and Trend Micro reasons parents (and even some kids) might want some way of filtering the information that can be accessed via integrated Web functionality in game consoles. The company also speculates the consoles could become the targets of malware writers, phishing schemes, and other cybercrime. Although all Web-capable consoles offer some sort of parental control features, Trend Micro takes the idea one step further with URL-based blocking and filtering based on a site’s overall reputation score.

The new service is available in conjunction with the new version 2.0 firmware Sony has released for the PS3: to activate it, users with the 2.0 firmware just launch the PS3 browser, go to Tools, then select “Start Trend Micro Web Security for PS3″ from “Browser Security.” And, what’s more, the service is available on a trial basis for free through the end of April, 2008. Trend Micro plans to announce how customers can opt-in to a paid version of the service “soon,” once it gets the details worked out.