* Analyst predicts an inevitable hybrid mix for fending off malware of all types
Network World Senior Editor Ellen Messmer last week reported on how some industry analysts argue that traditional signature based antivirus wares – which currently enjoy close to a 100% market penetration – will become less and less useful at keeping dangerous viruses out of corporate networks unless they are paired with newer malware control measures such as whitelisting or behavior-blocking.
In a report published in December called “Anti-Virus is Dead: Long Live Anti-Malware”, Yankee Group security analyst Andrew Jaquith contends that there has been an “explosion” in cumulative malware variants that will lead to 220,000 unique variants hitting this year. Messmer reports that level represents a tenfold increase over 2002 variant levels. Jaquith – whose argument is echoed by other analysts in the field including Boston-based Hurwitz & Associates partner Robin Bloor – says the antivirus vendors simply can’t keep up as the number of new attacks force them to produce a signature change every 10 minutes.
Antivirus vendors quoted in the story point to evolving signature-based product lines and other industry watchers’ estimates that put the AV enterprise market at well over 4.5 billion by 2010 as evidence that they should not be throwing in the towel anytime soon.
Messmer discusses how Trend Micro is innovating with what it calls reputation services to check IP addresses and e-mail to determine if incoming code originated at a reputable source. Likewise Symantec is adapting by incorporating new technologies, such as IPS, into its products and notes the antivirus products of the future will be working through far more than signature-based eradication.
Use Network World’s AntiVirus Buyer’s Guide and AntiSpyware Buyer’s Guide to help pinpoint products that can work collectively in your network to fend off the viruses and malware headed your way.
