Cybersecurity company Malwarebytes on Wednesday launched a new identity theft protection service.
The launch comes just a few weeks after the company published a report highlighting identity theft among the biggest online threats in North America.
According to CEO Marcin Kleczynski, the report showed the urgent need to extend Malwarebytes’ security solutions. Customers can expect ongoing dark web monitoring and real-time security alerts from Malwarebytes’ Identity Theft Protection service.
“Our comprehensive solution scours the dark web for your personal information, prevents your social media account from being hacked, and even keeps an eye on your credit —and it’s all backed by an up-to-$2 million identity theft insurance,” Kleczynski said in a blog post.
Malwarebytes is also offering identity recovery and resolution services with live customer support. The plans are currently priced between $10 to $20 per month. Malwarebytes already offers cybersecurity tools such as its Privacy VPN and Premium antivirus. This latest offering aims to protect users’ complete digital identity.
While 81% of People Are Worried About Identity Theft, Only 13% Use Theft Protection
Malwarebytes’ recent report, titled “Everyone is Afraid of the Internet,” is based on a survey of 1,000 Internet users in the 13-77 age group in North America. The results revealed key insights into how people view online threats today — including identity theft.
While four in five participants agreed that identity theft is a huge concern, only 13% use identity theft protection tools. Furthermore, 66% of parents of Gen Z internet users said they are worried about their children falling victim to this threat.
The report highlighted the cognitive dissonance or disparity between what people fear and their online behaviors. Among the subjects of this survey, Gen Z participants displayed a very lax approach to staying protected despite voicing their fears, Malwarebytes said. This includes a general tendency to avoid using identity theft protection tools.
“Nowhere is this more obvious than when talking about identity theft and fraud,” the report reads. “While this is one of the biggest fears for many (81% worry about it happening to them), identity theft protection is among the least used cybersecurity tools, indicating a strong need for further education,” it adds.
“We know that people are worried,” Kleczynski wrote. Malwarebytes latest survey showed that “79% of internet users are “very concerned” about online privacy and security risks,” he explained. “More specifically, we found that 81% worry that identity theft and fraud could happen to them, and 71% say that having their data leaked and identity stolen is one of their biggest fears.”
Malwarebytes Bundles VPN and Antivirus With Identity Theft
Malwarebytes is not offering its Identity Theft Protection service as a standalone product. It will include the company’s VPN and Antivirus.
“We have created our new plans to make comprehensive protection easy across your devices, online browsing, and identity — all in one intuitive bundle,” Jamie Fong, consumer privacy advocate at Malwarebytes, said in an email to VPNOverview.
Malwarebytes’ Identity Theft Protection service also includes Malwarebytes’ Browser Guard, a browser extension for desktop versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari. Browser Guard protects users from third-party ad trackers, blocks malicious websites, and prevents in-browser cryptojackers.
Existing Malwarebytes customers can upgrade their plan to include Identity Theft Protection through their account. But you will need to pay the difference for the remaining subscription period.
