It's generally accepted that antivirus programs provide a necessary protection layer, but organizations should audit such products before deploying them on their systems because many of them contain serious vulnerabilities, a researcher warned.
The prevalence with which hackers are handing out headaches to IT security pros will have a big upside for vendors in the coming year, according to new figures from Canalys.
The frequency of attacks that distribute fake antivirus software, a long-time pillar of the underground economy, has decreased considerably in recent months. However, security researchers warn that the industry is not yet dead and new versions of attacks continue to be released.
The Chinese man jailed for writing the 'Fujacks' worm in 2006 appears to be trying to rehabilitate his public image, reportedly making made a donation to a panda research centre in the country.
Panda Cloud Antivirus is a unique entry in the free antivirus race. Most free antivirus products still rely on signature updates to detect new malware, but Panda's program instead uses fresh data about malware direct from Panda's servers. As a result, Cloud Antivirus put up some excellent results in some malware detection tests, but its scan speeds were slower than we would have liked to see.
Depending on whom you ask, paying for antivirus software is either a good investment or a total ripoff. In reality, neither viewpoint is accurate. You can find plenty of good reasons to choose a paid antivirus product, and plenty of good reasons to go with a freebie.