Antivirus pioneer Symantec declares AV “dead” and “doomed to failure”

[Reefa]

Commercial antivirus pioneer Symantec has finally admitted publicly what critics have been saying for years: the growing inability of the scanning software to detect the majority of malware attacks makes it "dead" and "doomed to failure," according to a published report.

Over the past two reported quarters, Symantec has watched revenue fall, and sales are expected to flag again in the most recent period when the company releases financial results later this week, anarticle published Monday by The Wall Street Journal reported. The declines come as Juniper Networks, FireEye, and other companies have rolled out products and services that take a decidedly different approach to securing computers and networks. Rather than scan for files that are categorized as malicious, these newer techniques aim to detect, minimize, and contain the damage that attackers can do in the event that they penetrate a customer's defenses. Citing Symantec Senior President Brian Dye, the WSJ said:

Mr. Dye, who has spent more than a decade with Symantec, says it was galling to watch other security companies surge ahead. "It's one thing to sit there and get frustrated," he says. "It's another thing to act on it, go get your act together and go play the game you should have been playing in the first place."

Symantec pioneered computer security with its antivirus software in the late 1980s. The technology keeps hackers out by checking against a list of malicious code spotted on computers. Think of it as an immune system for machines.

But hackers increasingly use novel bugs. Mr. Dye estimates antivirus now catches just 45% of cyberattacks.

That puts Symantec in a pickle. Antivirus and other products that run on individual devices still account for more than 40% of the company's revenue. Specialized cybersecurity services for businesses account for less than one-fifth of revenue and generate smaller profit margins. It would be impractical, if not impossible, to sell such services to individual consumers.

To be fair, Symantec began to move beyond malware long ago. Its Norton security suite has long included a password manager and code that detects malicious e-mails and Web links. Heuristic algorithms also attempt to detect malicious files even when they have never been seen before. But increasingly, Symantec is competing against its newer rivals by matching the suite of non-AV services they provide.

The Mountain View, California-based company is creating its own response team to help companies that have been hacked. Within six months, Symantec also plans to sell intelligence briefings on specific threats so clients can gain a better understanding of the root causes behind costly network compromises. "Symantec also is developing technology to look for more-advanced malicious software inside a network that mimics offerings from its rivals," the Journal said.

Source

[GRiM]

Bullshit. They know they're on the way out so they talk crap to try and remove confidence about other/better security suites. Norton has been crap for years.

[psyko666]

I recently saw a cryptolocker infection. The AV on that system had detected over 45 separate infections in the three days after Alureon took hold, yet the damage was done, and files were lost.

The user says: "I thought I have anti-virus on there?"

Indeed, she did. And it was freaking worthless.

[0veR]

They should add promotions like bitdefender :)

[dMog]

so...as a public service...what do you suggest we use to protect ourselves

[dMog]

was he just speaking about stand alone antivirus....just the antivirus all by itself or the symantec security suites too

[smallhagrid]

Norton/symantec/macafee and some others have been useless for some time now - overdone bloatware from companies that should have died off a while back already.

Others, like the 100% free Qihoo 360 are doing a very good job, minus the greed factor...go figure...

[Matsuda]

Symantec has watched revenue fall, and sales are expected to flag again in the most recent period when the company releases financial results later this week

This is the price to pay for selling lie.

[OrbingStorm]

Im giving comodo internet security a whirl atm and so far its pretty good but its a bit technical.But I like that.

[sirri]

AV already died almost 1 year in all my PC's. :D Norton has just started to build lightness AV since 2011 but they fail compete with others such KIS or BIS even with free AV's in term of detection/protection. They also withdraw participate with independence AV test such AV-C.

[user@nsaneforums]

_{without the brain... none av can help you}

[Ponting]

Im giving comodo internet security a whirl atm and so far its pretty good but its a bit technical.But I like that.

Also give AppGuard a try... :D

[oliverjia]

Symantec has been a loser in AV industry, so they are trying to talk shit about the whole AV industry to disguise the truth.

Yes an AV could not prevent all potential infections, and this has been acknowledged ever since the AV industry was born. Your computer being infected one day does not mean your AV was worthless. You could have been infected way earlier and the results could have been much more disastrous without an AV.

Let me put it this way: simple answer these two questions below:

is it possible that your computer could be infected by a known virus/trojan? And do you think an AV is effective in defending a known virus/trojan? Let's be honest here - If the answer is yes to both questions, then you simply can not state an AV is worthless in today's computing needs.

Edited May 6, 2014 by oliverjia

[dMog]

so i am now using my antivirus/firewall...AND malwarebytes anti malware ...by the way...it flags nsane as website full of malicious stuff and recommends we not come here and actually prevents the site form opening...it does give the option to override that

Edited May 6, 2014 by dMog

[Rok]

Once the top contenders of the market, the big duo Symantec and mAcafee have completely lost their way. Although, Symantec is putting some working, and making its products lighter on resources. And, their firewall is integrated in to the Security suite/Norton 360 is doing great, cann't speak the same about its AV.

What do you guys think about KIS, is it better than Norton 360 ?

[AlienForce1]

_{without the brain... none av can help you}

Yes , you are right , but the bad part is that the great majority of PC users don`t have any ideea (or , worse , they don`t care ! ) of what problems they could have while they are surfing on internet .

I hear a lot of times :

-> `why should I bother (care) , I don`t have anything valuable in my PC`

or :

-> `there`s nothing to steal in my PC `

or :

-> ` I have antivirus , so why would I have problems ? `

Edited May 6, 2014 by AlienForce1

[AlienForce1]

What do you guys think about KIS, is it better than Norton 360 ?

obviously :)

[Holmes]

Symantec has been a loser in AV industry, so they are trying to talk shit about the whole AV industry to disguise the truth.

Yes an AV could not prevent all potential infections, and this has been acknowledged ever since the AV industry was born. Your computer being infected one day does not mean your AV was worthless. You could have been infected way earlier and the results could have been much more disastrous without an AV.

Let me put it this way: simple answer these two questions below:

is it possible that your computer could be infected by a known virus/trojan? And do you think an AV is effective in defending a known virus/trojan? Let's be honest here - If the answer is yes to both questions, then you simply can not state an AV is worthless in today's computing needs.

Exactly antiviruses can only go after what they know about. Thats why getting educated in manually cleaning is so important unfortunately most computer users (my mom included) say I dont want to learn theres to much and when something happens my computer is infected can you help me. Theres not to much if you learn bit by bit (I know good song)..

Edited May 6, 2014 by Holmes

[MidnightDistortions]

McAffee and Norton both suck. I stopped using BitDefender because it took up so many resources and sometimes it would be rendered immobile sometimes requiring me to restart my PC.

[dMog]

as our fearless leader Lite has always maintained...before your turn on your computer....engage your brain...

[Deunan]

I always advised my customers to unistall Norton or McAfee Immediately if they came pre-installed on their systems... I've been using Comodo Internet Security Preimum & Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for years and never had any problems, and I also Install them on my customers systems... I always has Issues with Norton from my Windows XP days, when they only found 25 of the 126 threats I had on my system... Poor is just poor...

[dMog]

i have norton internet security and malwarebytes no issues here

[banned]

AV is dead because mobile is king and everyone's protection is next to useless on those platforms.

[mjall]

ESET32 is doing great for me so far