New Anti-Virus Detection

Pesky computer viruses could soon have it a little tough. University of Michigan researchers have developed a method called CloudAV which moves anti-virus operations from individual computers to the virtual world. CloudAV is accessible to any computer or mobile device on a network that runs a simple software agent. Each time a computer or device receives a new document or programme, that item is automatically detected and sent to an antivirus cloud for analysis. The CloudAV system uses 12 different detectors that act together to tell the inquiring computer whether the item is safe to open. Personal computers can generally use only one anti-virus detector at a time due to performance constraints and programme incompatibilities.

Source: Down To Earth, September 2008