Is the end nigh for anti-virus software?

A senior manager at Symantec, one of the world's leading anti-virus software makers claims that current applications miss 55 % of malware attacks.

A senior manager at Symantec, one of the world's leading anti-virus software makers claims that current applications miss 55 % of malware attacks.

Not only is Symantec a leading company in the sector through its Norton brand, it essentially invented the anti-virus market.

However, according to comments from Brian Dye, reported in the Wall Street Journal, current forms of anti-virus software designed for protecting consumers' PCs aren't good enough.

And it's not because firms are cheating customers, it's because the nature of cyber-attacks and of malware is getting more and more advanced. Therefore, Dye believes that companies such as Symantec should instead be focusing their efforts on detecting these more sophisticated attacks and responding to them.

Yet, just because anti-virus applications miss a high percentage of attacks, doesn't mean that they're no longer of any use.

For every incredibly sophisticated attack that targets the architecture of the web itself there are still hundreds of very blunt malware and virus-based attempted attacks, and in those situations, for now at least, an up-to-date version of a good anti-virus program can add an extra layer of protection for most users.