Viruses/Worms News

Virus protection might not be so protective after all

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

A white paper released last month by internet security firm Cyveillance states that top anti virus programs detect as little as 16 percent of online malware in real time.

The study tested the effectiveness of the 13 most popular anti-virus programs by feeding confirmed malware to them in real time and observing how much of the malicious code was caught by each program. Even the top-ranked contender detected less than half of the malware.

Experts say that the report underlines the fact that online criminals are, at present, comfortably outpacing computer security technology. Web-based malware is a particular growth sector among cyber criminals, and can be some of the most difficult for traditional anti-virus programs to detect.

The proliferation of social networks has also offered a juicy target for online crime, say the experts, with highly targeted "spear phishing" attacks growing more and more common. Social engineering, or simply tricking users into divulging sensitive log-on information, is more difficult to defend against than purely digital threats, and is growing more prevalent as social networks expand.