While it may sound like antivirus software is exploding with success through various companies such as Symantec and McAfee, the truth of the matter is that they are coming to an end. In the constant battle between antivirus software and malware, malware has been winning the war for quite some time due to the developers’ knowledge of how ’signature’ based antivirus algorithms work. They say the newest trend is to go with whitelisting software, but I feel a little hesitant in agreeing with that. While I do agree that it will provide better protection against malware, the majority of people will not understand whitelisting programs in general nor the programs they are whitelisting. Also, some people might just get fed up with the whole whitelisting paradigm in general that they’ll just disable the entire thing on their computer. There has to be a better alternative.

Is the bell tolling for desktop antivirus technology? Some industry analysts say the traditional antivirus method for detecting and eradicating viruses, trojans, spyware and other baneful code by matching it against a signature is “dead”.

They say signature-based checking can’t keep up with the flood of virus variants manufactured by a criminal underworld that is beating the antivirus vendors at their own game. And they’re arguing that it’s time for user organisations to adopt newer approaches, such as whitelisting or behaviour-blocking, to protect desktops and servers.

“It’s the beginning of the end for antivirus,” says Robin Bloor, partner at consulting firm Hurwitz & Associates, who adds he began his “antivirus is dead” campaign a year ago and feels even more strongly about it today. “I’m going to keep beating this drum. The approach antivirus vendors take is completely wrong. The criminals working to release these viruses against computer users are testing against antivirus software. They know what works and how to create variants.”[more]

Tags: Malware, Computer Protection