"Antivirus Software Performs Poorly Against New Threats"

13 years ago

http://it.slashdot.org/story/13/01/02/0348247/antivirus-software-performs-poorly-against-new-threats?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

>>>> "Researchers collected and analyzed 82 new computer viruses and put them up against more than 40 antivirus products, made by top companies like Microsoft, Symantec, McAfee and Kaspersky Lab and found that the initial detection rate was less than 5 percent (PDF). 'The bad guys are always trying to be a step ahead,' says Matthew D. Howard, who previously set up the security strategy at Cisco Systems. 'And it doesn't take a lot to be a step ahead.' Part of the problem is that antivirus products are inherently reactive. Just as medical researchers have to study a virus before they can create a vaccine, antivirus makers must capture a computer virus, take it apart and identify its 'signature' Ã¯Â¿Â½ unique signs in its code Ã¯Â¿Â½ before they can write a program that removes it. That process can take as little as a few hours or as long as several years." http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/01/technology/antivirus-makers-work-on-software-to-catch-malware-more-effectively.html?_r=0

http://www.imperva.com/docs/HII_Assessing_the_Effectiveness_of_Antivirus_Solutions.pdf

I'll just stick with an out-bound firewall and the NSA's S.E.L. software on a Debian based Linux. Contrary to what someone posted here somewhat recently about such things, as a rather "heavy" user who has had 4 browsers running full time and two email mail accounts open too 24/7 since the power came back on in mid October, Linux, especially an S.E.L. Linux on a virtual machine, is pretty much foolproof.

But, if you want a mid summers listing of what Linux viri there are out there for all y'all MS-Win freaks to gloat over.....
http://www.unixmen.com/meet-linux-viruses/

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Comments (3)

mxyplx
13 years ago
I cross em up by always waiting at least one day before doing anything on the internet so the virii have been solved ahead of me.
Elmer J Fudd
13 years ago
I've noticed that some people tend to have recurring problems - they run out of gas, they overspend on their credit cards, they have problems with kids, they have traffic accidents or ticket problems, etc, . It's not that some people have all of these problems, but rather some people seem to be prone to having recurring problems of one sort or another.

This seems to be true of malware infections too.

While there can be an element of good/bad luck involved, there's also (in my view) an issue of recognizing when a particular practice leads to an unwanted consequence, then a rational thing to do is to change your actions. Maybe I'm lucky, but my security software and reasonable but not OCD practices avoid malware problems entirely. I don't read about it, follow it, or lose sleep or worry about it. I'm sure future incidents will occur, but prevention is easy and recovery is also easy.

Desktop linux use is proposed by enthusiasts but seems to be dead on arrival. The percentage usage is tiny and not growing- if you rounded off, it rounds to zero. Even in enterprise settings where linux expertise is available from IT departments, there seems to be little interest in it.
mikie_gw
13 years ago
Some survey shows Linux useage on 40,000 websites reported at 1.25% of visitors for the month of November.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-8-now-running-on-around-one-percent-of-all-pcs