Panda Looks to Speed Antivirus Scans
Panda has released NanoScan, an online virus scanning service that is able to perform a full sweep of a computer in less than one minute. The speed is a vast improvement over current virus scanners, which take as much as an hour or more to complete.
The company isn't giving specifics on how the software works, only saying that it will require a small 400KB ActiveX download. No software is installed on the user's computer, and is hosted on Panda's servers. This would ensure that the signature files were continually up-to-date.
Hosting the signature file online solves a problem that the company said will eventually require a new way to combat virus and malware writers.
"Panda had foreseen that digital vandals and Internet criminals would eventually win the day simply by overwhelming systems with signature files too large to be of practical use, unless something radically new and different were done," the company said in a statement.
Around 600,000 threats will be detectable through the service, with more added daily through the company's 'Anti-Malware Collective Intelligence' platform. The system uses detection of new threats worldwide as a way to keep its anti-virus signature files continuously up-to-date.
This system works hand-in-hand with its TruPrevent technology, the company said, which detects malicious code without the need for it to be in the antivirus softwares signature file.
In beta, the scanner is available for use free of charge from nanoscan.com. It was not immediately clear if the company will charge for the final version.
As for the claims to scan a computer in less than a minute, they seemed to be true: a BetaNews test of the service resulted in a 45 second scan time.