The technology, called McAfee Artemis Technology, uses a new Internet-based service hosted by McAfee Avert Labs. When a suspicious file is detected on a computer protected by a McAfee product containing Artemis, the Artemis technology connects to McAfee servers in real time to determine whether the file is malicious or not. This check happens in seconds without any material impact on the user s experience, according to McAfee.
McAfee Avert Labs projects a true malware onslaught this year with 300 percent more malicious programs in 2008 compared to 2007. Clearly today s threat landscape requires a different approach to malware detection, said Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee Avert Labs.
Traditionally malware detection has relied on databases with threat signatures on the user s computer. This approach requires that the threat databases on each computer are updated with signatures for each new threat to provide the latest detection. As a result there is an inherent delay from when the threat is first identified to when protection is available at all computers.
McAfee lists the key benefits of Artemis as:
Reducing the protection gap from hours or days to mere seconds
Combining the best of blacklisting and whitelisting models
Dynamic, in the cloud service that offers protection in real time
Easy installation
No cost to customers
