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Understanding Why Antivirus Protection Struggles With New Threats

At this time last summer, Code Red had infected our servers, and SirCam had infiltrated our desktops, while Nimda was waiting in the wings for its entrance. In contrast, so far this summer there have been no major virus outbreaks; the . . . . At this time last summer, Code Red had infected our servers, and SirCam had infiltrated our desktops, while Nimda was waiting in the wings for its entrance. In contrast, so far this summer there have been no major virus outbreaks; the last one was April's pesky Klez.H worm. But don't pop open the champagne bottles just yet. Although we may be better protected today than we were last year, we're still vulnerable to future threats. Even if every computer user in the world had some form of antivirus protection installed on his or her machine, viruses would continue to proliferate, says leading antivirus researcher Joe Wells. Here's why: Most antivirus products are signature-based, meaning the vendor has to supply your antivirus software with unique code to identify each virus. Although many programs automatically update their signature files, there's a delay of several hours between the time a new virus hits the Net and when the update for it gets to your antivirus software. The link for this article located at ZDNet is no longer available. . Investigating the reasons traditional antivirus programs still struggle with new types of cyber threats.. Antivirus Strategies, Malware Proliferation, Cybersecurity Awareness, Virus Identification, Protection Mechanisms. . Anthony Pell

Aug 23, 2002 • Anthony Pell Network Security