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Are Anti-Virus Programs Useless?

by Terrence O'Brien on September 16, 2008 at 09:54 AM

Are Anti-Virus Programs Useless?
In a computer lab at Sonoma State University, George Ledin is teaching his students how to beat the expensive anti-virus packages from top security software manufacturers like Symantec and McAfee. Students are learning to best these pricey products on closed networks where they can't harm other computers or the Internet. But that hasn't stopped security companies from condemning Ledin's work. Some have even vowed not to hire the professor's students.

Ledin says his work is important to help improve security software, however, arguing that the only way to beat malicious hackers is to understand their techniques and tools, as well as the weaknesses of current anti-virus suites. Security companies essentially accuse Ledin of handing over national security secrets, though they are quick to point out that Ledin is breaking older versions of the software and that new security techniques that watch for suspicious activity rather than just known malicious code are much harder to defeat.

Still, the ease with which Ledin and his college students are able to defeat many of the expensive security packages should worry anyone who cherishes their computer and personal information. Is anti-virus software useless? No, but we can't figure out any reason to drop $150 on McAfee's package when free tools like AVG do just as good a job. [From: Newsweek]

Tags: anti virus, anti-virus, AntiVirus, college, hacking, security

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