Though there are claims within the IT security industry that anti-virus (AV) software is dead, this is far from the truth.
So says Lutz Blaeser, MD of Intact Software Distribution. "The bottom line is hundreds of thousands of new malware samples are discovered each month. In fact, close on three new strands every second."
Ex-Symantec senior vice-president for information security, Brian Dye, recently pointed out AV software only catches 45% of malware attacks and is "dead". Dye has since moved to Citrix as group vice-president and general manager of its Mobile Platforms group.
He told the Wall Street Journal hackers increasingly use novel methods and bugs in the software of computers to perform attacks, resulting in about 55% of cyber attacks going unnoticed by commercial AV software.
"What is crucial here is the speed at which businesses can respond to new threats, and how the technologies involved actually deal with them," says Blaeser.
"For sure, AV that relies solely on signature-based processes for rooting out malware is AV of the past, and pretty much obsolete. Today's security products must combine proactive technologies with the traditional reactive ones if they hope to protect against unknown threats," he adds.
He points out top security vendors have been combining proactive and reactive technologies in their solutions for some time, and offer multi-layered security that blocks known threats, fights off the unknown ones, and prevents vulnerabilities in software from being exploited.
According to Doros Hadjizenonos, sales manager for SA at security solutions provider Check Point Technologies, traditional security technologies such as AV and intrusion prevention systems are the most effective in detecting attempts to exploit known software and configuration vulnerabilities.
The fact that thorough and effective protection of the IT environment needs technologies and solutions over and above AV is not in dispute, says Blaeser. "Data leakage prevention (DLP), intrusion prevention (IPS), encryption tools, firewalls, and policy and device management systems are also vital links in the security chain."
In his opinion, securing the highly complex IT environments of today is an enormous challenge.
"Solid AV solutions are a core part of a multi-layered defence strategy, and are still the top choice for protection against malicious code. While not a silver bullet on their own, any business which chooses to do without AV, does so at its peril."
This, he says, extends to private users too. "AV is still the best hope consumers have for protecting their home networks and PCs. The average home user has absolutely no need for state-of-the-art, multi-layered security solutions, and top-end encryption for highly personal documents, DLP, IPS and so on, would really be overkill. AV remains the home user's best bet.
"AV is far from dead, it remains a useful and highly effective tool against malware. Good security is all about layering, and not relying on a single technology or solution to protect your business from attackers," Blaeser concludes.
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