Why Bother Virus Scanning?

I have always thought the idea of scanning for viruses to be flawed, well certainly as a security measure. Yet nearly all of you reading this article will be relying on just that technology to protect your networks, PCs and laptops. The last twelve months have provided enough evidence to convince the most sceptical of analysts that the defences are broken and anti-virus scanning is just not up to the job. Slammer, Sobig, Blaster, Swen et al have all managed to wreak havoc with not only the humble home user but corporate users alike. Research carried out by Hewlett-Packard's Matthew Williamson in their Bristol labs has confirmed my belief that the signature approach to virus detection is fundamentally flawed.

Williamson's research first published in New Scientist (September 2003) found that even if a signature is available from the moment a virus is released, it cannot stop the virus spreading if it propagates fast enough. "These fast viruses are what we are getting at the moment", Williamson says, adding that they are getting better at being quicker.