In the networked world that we live in today, it is very easy for anti-social people to quickly create, and spread viruses. There are literally hundreds of new viruses written each week. In addition to network connectivity, use of the powerful Macro Programming Language in Microsoft Office applications provides and common, easy-to-use tool for virus writers to spread their creations. Simply put, virus protection is no longer an option. Everyone needs it.

Before you go buying just any anti virus package off the shelf, you have to be aware that all anti virus software is not created equal. To understand why, you must understand how anti virus software works. There are 2 common methods used to identify viruses. Viral signatures, and Using heuristic logic to identify virus activity.

Viral signatures are an easy concept to understand. Basically, a virus is a computer program. Viral signatures take a "snipplet" of code from the virus, and use it as a pattern that is compared against files on the hard drive. When a match is found between the snipplet of code, and a program on the hard drive, the anti virus software specifies that a match has been found. Although this method can absolutely identify that your machine has a specific virus, the rapid rate at which viruses are created means that your anti-virus protection is only as good as your most recent update of your virus signature files.

In addition to being dependant on users updating their anti-virus signature files, another fallback to the strategy of using virus signatures is time latency. You could download the most recent anti-virus signature definiton for your anti virus software tonight, but it wouldn't do any good against a virus that was also unleashed tonight. Simply put, the antivirus vendors need to give their programmers time to discover and defeat new viruses. To overcome this fundamental flaw, all major anti virus packages use some form of heuristic logic. Norton calls their heuristic logic Bloodhound Technology. In Antivirus packages, Heuristic logic is a form of artifical intelligence that monitors your PC looking for virus-like activity. Things such as changing files sizes on executable programs, or systems files, certain logic constructs, or unusual jump patterns within executable files, certain destructive command sequences, and the like are the types of things that heuristic logic looks for.

Now that we have covered the basics of viruses, let's talk a little about the specifics of Norton Antivirus. From the discussion of heuristic logic, even someone who isn't a professional programmer can see that it is a complicated subject, and it is possible for different packages to perform at different levels of effectivity. Although Bloodhound technology is good, their are better packages out there for discovering hard to find, or new viruses. FProt and Thunderbyte are generally regarded as the best anti virus packages because of their advanced heuristic logic.

In addition to variation in heuristic logic, another differentiator of anti-virus packages has to do with the frequency of anti virus signature updates, the specific method used to match snippets of code to programs can cause a wide variety of variation in accuracy of detection. ( If you want to see true numbers on the subject, go to any search engine, and type in "VIRII" as your subject. Then start reading. You will be amazed what is out there. )

A quick check of Symantec's website on Oct 29. 1999 shows that the most recent anti-virus signature file is dated Oct. 25, 1999. I consider this to me an extremely good sign. Several major packages offer only month updates. In the computing world of today, this simply isn't good enough. Weekly updates need to become the new minimum standard. The age of this anti virus update package, plus other things on the web site that mention weekly updates is a very good sign.

To make a long, and extremely technical subject somewhat shorter, people who create viruses respect 2 packages more than the rest. FProt, and Thunderbyte. I would strongly recommend getting both on your system. Although I do like the weekly antivirus updates that Symantec offers with Norton Anti Virus, the difference in heuristic logic technology is enough to recommend Norton only as a 3rd Anti Virus package for your system. ( You really can't have too many packages these days. ) If you do your own testing ( particularly with polymorphic/encrypting viruses ), you will find that Norton falls behind FProt and Thunderbyte.





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