Viruses Evolving Beyond The Antivirus Programs
By theprogamer
@theprogamer (10534)
United States
January 3, 2008 6:44pm CST
Its a new year, and since I've talked about Computers in recent days (and a lot of the time on mylot) its time to review the topic of Malware.
Though its one opinion and one group of people, the results are as follows. Viruses are catching up with Antivirus and prevention methods. Many of the crooks are organizing more and more, while others are rogue players with very well written forms of malicient code. Last year a heuristics(anti-virus sampling) test yielded a 50% chance of the best anti-virus programs detecting new malware entries. This year the result was near 25% of positive finds. And with more organized malware attacks, more testing of malware in house, and more evolution of the industry, attacks will get worse. People should be careful with internet use and security.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140861-c,viruses/article.html
That's the article
The review is here
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140027/article.html
However, its missing free programs (most notably AVG). Either way, its still in the best interest to keep your anti-virus software updated and at least scan once or more a week. Even though its a preference, there can be a need for another anti-virus to act as a second opinion. Be careful though, and be sure not to run both programs at the same time.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@CatNPK (461)
• United States
4 Jan 08
All to too true. An interesting aspect of all the talk around viruses, which rarely gets brought up, is that virtually every single virus created only attacks Windows computers. Switch to Mac or Linux operating systems and you barely ever have to worry about it. I have friends who have never bothered with any anti-virus/spam/etc programs, and have never been affected. Something to think about for all us Windows users.
@santuccie (3384)
• United States
4 Jan 08
There are malware out there for both Mac and Linux, but not nearly as much. The main reason for this is that Windows dominates the market. But the bad guys do have time these days, and they're using it to attack the more obscure platforms. Linux really is pretty safe, but I also use NoScript for Firefox and will not install anything from outside the repositories. If you need more, here's a little something for Linux and OS-X: http://www.itsecurity.com/features/103-free-security-apps-041607/
But Windows is the de facto standard. Some people/office workers have functional needs which neither Linux nor OS-X can facilitate. The only solution for them would be to make Windows invincible. Fortunately, that's possible: http://invincible-windows.blogspot.com/
For those who use Vista, you don't need much beyond the traditional, three-pronged security apparatus, and preferably a script blocker. You can get all of this for free in McAfee SecurityCenter special edition from AOL: http://safety.aol.com/isc/index.adp?
1 person likes this
@theprogamer (10534)
• United States
5 Jan 08
Dang, Santi, you should have put your own response along with this too. You'd get the BR by effort. Even if its just a statement of your thoughts or just your acts in thread, that'd be fine. Thanks for sharing this information. Its completely correct (also applies to OS and to extent browsers).
@amitavroy (4819)
• India
4 Jan 08
yes my friend. this is something which is increasing day by day and there is nothing the anti virus comapnies can do about it. the infection of virus, trojans, malwares etc are increasing day by day. with the increasing use in portable drives this is going to increase more and more. and i think there has to be a big change in the technology to stop this.
@justlakshmi (159)
• United States
4 Jan 08
i think u havnt understood properly
its the antivirus that is catching up with viruses,,and thats been so alwayss
@theprogamer (10534)
• United States
4 Jan 08
Never heard of "do as the enemy" in order to outsmart them? That's part of what was discussed in article (labs, submissions, "sharing")
How about in more technological terms? There have been zero day infections which can really do damage to systems across the globe in the span of minutes. Other infections are so well written it can avoid detection for a long time. That's the idea behind these maleware writers. They know the antivirus producers are making their products better, and that users are getting wiser. They have to not only just keep up but anticipate, experiment and outperform both the anti-virus programs and the users in question. It can be a paradoxical argument, but either direction you look at it, it works, its natural. The antivirus makers have to release patches and updates to keep up with discovered malware. The malware makers have to redesign their code and programs to defeat, circumvent or even take out anti-virus systems/designs.
1 person likes this
@santuccie (3384)
• United States
4 Jan 08
Actually, justlakshmi, it's you who are mistaken. Did you not read the article? The headline says this: "Malware Evolving Too Fast for Antivirus Apps." It's true that polymorphic malware are changing signatures too fast for antivirus engines to keep up. Storm worm puts out an average of 685 samples a day. Last year yielded as many new samples as the previous twenty years combined, because of the Storm worm.
1 person likes this
@incantius (19)
• United States
9 Jan 08
anti-virus programs will always have to play catch-up...how would they know what to look for if it hasn't been made yet???
