Symantec has announced that it has developed a software rating system based on the reputation of the developer. The company claims the new technology can accurately weed out harmful software and viruses from legitimate programs.
According to ZDNet.com the new approach will help to protect user’s computers from all types of malware, including trojans and computer viruses. In simple terms, the new technology will scan a cross-section of Symantec users to determine how prevalent the software being scanned may be. Once the user database has been analyzed, the software will be categorized with a reputation score.
This means that Symantec will probe its user database to determine the popularity of a software program, and use this information along with several other parameters to gauge the potential risk of installing the software. And because Symantec’s database contains millions of users, the technology should have ample information to work with in making a reputation-based analysis of any new software.
To assist in this, Symantec has parsed its user database into three different categories. The first category are users that are considered “ultra safe.” These users would only have the most common and well reputed software programs on their computers. The second category is considered more moderate, and users may have a slightly more “adventurous” selection of software installed.
The third type of category is “unsafe users.” These users may have various questionable software applications installed, and potentially even a history of viruses or trojans on their computers. Symantec’s reputation-based algorithm will compare any new software against all three of these database categories to determine the likelihood of encountering problems installing, and the possibility that a virus or other malware could be present in the software.
Symantec has not revealed when the new algorithm will go into effect. A spokesman for the company said it “will happen when the product teams deem the market timing is right for it.” The company claims that initial testing has been favorable, and the chance of encountering a so-called “false positive” is very low.
Symantec will also be introducing a whitelist of known reputable software, such as that already used by some of their competitors, most notably Norton Antivirus. Adding a whitelist of safe software helps to speed up scans, and ultimately ensure the safety of new programs being in stalled.
Traditionally, computer security software has focused on the blacklist, or those programs known to contain viruses, trojans and other malware. The addition of a whitelist and Symantec’s new reputation-based rating technology could take the guesswork out of installing new software, something sorely needed to offset the flood of malicious software online.
Good reputation from symantec to avoid dangerous viruses.
Comment by nick — November 3, 2008 @ 5:01 am