ESET has announced the latest release of its flagship consumer products: ESET Smart Security 6 and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 6.

The proactive digital protection says enhancements to both products include improvements in threat detection, more thorough cleaning of infected systems, and an improved user experience.

ESET says the NOD32 Antivirus 6 is "a fast and powerful antivirus solution with improved usability and upgrades to the scanning engine for better overall performance."

Both products benefit from Anti-Phishing protection as well as the new ESET Social Media Scanner App, which protects users and their linked friends against attacks launched from within Facebook, with ESET Smart Security 6 further extending that functionality by adding unique Anti-Theft capabilities.

“ESET has always worked to be the fastest, most accurate, and complete antivirus solution available,” says Andrew Lee, CEO, ESET North America.

“With the release of Version 6, we believe we have delivered on that promise while improving usability, driving value for our customers, and making it possible for people to use and enjoy their technology with confidence.

"Cyber security is about more than just technology. It's about helping people make good decisions.

In planning the latest product versions, ESET says they researched and evaluated the most prevalent security issues affecting customers.

The findings reinforced that laptop and device theft continue to be a growing concern, with a wide variety of sources identifying computer theft as a leading cause of data breaches and identity fraud.

A consequence of this means that without protection, it is very unlikely stolen computers are ever recovered.

Identity fraud:

In addition to computer theft, identity fraud remains a crucial issue according to the company, who believes social media is also a growing factor in the threat landscape with nearly 5% of Facebook users reporting some degree of identity theft.

ESET Social Media Scanner protects social media users from malicious content, including their profile, wall, newsfeed and private messages according to the company.

Protection continues even when the user is not logged into their Facebook account and if an infection is found, a notification arrives by email, so that the user can take immediate action.

“At ESET we do not want our customers to pay extra for what we consider to be an integral part of a complete personal security solution,” says Ignacio Sbampato, ESET chief sales and marketing officer.

“We are among the first vendors to have added the new Anti-Theft feature into the product at no extra cost rather than offering it as a standalone application.

For more information on ESET's products, click here.