AOL Adds Premium Antivirus Service

America Online is teaming up with Network Associates to offer antivirus and firewall protection to AOL subscribers as part of a new premium subscription service.

Network Associates' McAfee VirusScan Online service is now available to AOL subscribers who use Microsoft's Windows operating system and run AOL 7.0 or higher, according to a statement released by Network Associates and AOL.

For $3 a month, AOL subscribers will receive a copy of the McAfee desktop antivirus software to install on their computer, along with regular antivirus definition and software updates. The McAfee software will be integrated with the user's AOL account so that it will retrieve upgrades and new virus definitions whenever the user logs on, the companies said.

In addition, users will be able to take advantage of features of the antivirus software to scan hard drives, CD-ROMs, DVDs, and individual files. Users will be able to delete or disinfect corrupted files and to quarantine suspicious files, and they won't be limited to using the McAfee antivirus program's features for content that they view or download using AOL, according to Network Associates and AOL.

AOL Broadband users who subscribe to the new service will receive McAfee Personal Firewall Express software in addition to the antivirus protection at no extra charge, the companies said.

The new antivirus service is part of a larger effort by AOL to hook its subscribers with new services while stamping out nuisances--such as pop-up advertisements, spam e-mail, and viruses--that degrade users' online experience.

In February the Dulles, Virginia, company announced a premium music download service, MusicNet, as well as a stepped-up campaign to fight spam. Similarly, the company's recently released AOL 8.0 Plus software included e-mail attachment scanning services that use McAfee's VirusScan technology.

AOL is offering a one-month trial of the new premium virus protection program to current subscribers at no cost.

Customers can sign up for the new service online using AOL. The McAfee software can be downloaded and installed following sign-up and does not require a separate purchase.