If you are counting on your antivirus to save you or your co-workers from the latest threats, you may be ignoring an all-too real possibility.
Antivirus software simply cannot keep up with malware anymore.
At least that seems to be the opinion of Symantec. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, the antivirus giant has massive doubts about how long companies can continue to keep virus creators out of their systems, even with the latest products from Norton or McAfee. The issue lies with crypting services designed to check viruses and malware against protection suites like Norton McAfee and Symantec. This new software will slowly check, encode and check again until the virus is completely invisible to the average antivirus software. This new malware is known as Fully Un-Detectable, or FUD.
Now, instead of worrying about keeping out intruders, Symantec has begun to focus on identifying them and minimizing the damage done once a break-in occurs.
According to the article, Symantec is currently trying to explore options such as dummy target files (which trick intruders into snagging useless or even malicious files instead of the real deal) and methods of making stolen information less usable to the cyber criminals. However, these options have not yet found their way into public strategy, a shame given the fact that much of Symantec’s business still lies with individual users.
But these options will take time, and it’s possible that during that time we’ll see a rise in malicious software attacks as this FUD malware trend grows. The good news is that while FUD malware is difficult to detect, it still often makes its way into the system the same as it did before. Phishing emails have always been a primary point of ingress for cyber criminals looking to get down and dirty in your system. Fortunately, Sendio doesn’t merely rely on antivirus scanning to detect malicious attachments. While we do employ ClamAV for virus detection, we also use a multi-tiered system that checks IP reputation, provides silverlisting scores and can even request a sender verification, courtesy of our new Opt-Inbox.
These multiple tiers mean that you’re not just relying on your antivirus, probably for the best considering that Brian Krebs has even described antivirus software as “antiquated and ineffective.”
There will always be one-upsmanship in the field of IT security. But the human factor of Sendio means that you always know who you’re dealing with, who has access to your inbox and who that attachment is really from. It’s a simple solution that can give you, and your company, a whole new peace of mind.
