Broadband ISP Virgin Media UK Adds Identity Protection to Security Add-on UPDATE

Internet, TV and phone provider Virgin Media (O2) and security partner F-Secure have today announced that they’ve now begun offering customers of their optional (paid) ‘Advanced Security’ add-on service an additional “Identity Protection” feature, which is designed to help prevent identity theft.

Just to recap. All Virgin Media customers currently receive their Essential Security software as standard to help fight phishing scams, viruses and to provide other protections. Customers can optionally add Advanced Security, for three months free via a trial, or pay £3.50 monthly or £35 annually, which offers additional on-the-go protection both in and out of the home – for an unlimited number of devices.

Unfortunately, the press release doesn’t actually say how the new Identity Protection feature actually works, so we’ve had to query that with Virgin Media and will update again later. Otherwise, the Advanced Security service includes the following core features:

Advanced Security Features

➤ Remote device disruption: Helps to protect devices from being remotely accessed and controlled.

➤ Banking and shopping protection: Stops untrusted network connections while buying or banking online.

➤ Virus removal: Detects, scans and removes viruses alongside other malware on customers’ devices.

➤ On-the-go protection: Provides constant 24/7 security on the go, regardless of a customer’s mobile network provider, and even if they are offline or connected to a different broadband connection.

➤ Devices protection: Available on an unlimited number of devices for total protection everywhere.

➤ Generate and store strong passwords: Get instant alerts and advice if your personal data has been exposed in a data breach.

➤ Scam protection: Get notified of untrusted online stores and block SMS scams automatically with the latest AI technologies.

The provider claims that, over the past year, their Advanced Security service has prevented 131.5 million unsafe or harmful websites from being accessed, as well as stopping some 346,204 viruses, malware, and spyware threats and blocking 4.1 million banking and shopping sessions from being intercepted, enabling safer online transactions (this is PC only data as F-Secure cannot pull data from Apple/Android phones).

UPDATE 11:31am

We’ve been told that the new feature protects customers’ identity by helping them to both keep their credentials securely stored and providing breach alerts when their personal information is identified as having been leaked or stolen (some free websites like https://haveibeenpwned.com perform a similar function). The monitored data can include your email address, social security number, credit card, phone number, bank account number (IBAN), passport number, driver’s license number, username or gamertag, and or additional email addresses.