Anti-virus is no more, says Symantec VP

An information security specialist from Symantec, a US-based software company, has declared that there is no longer such a thing as ‘anti-virus’.

The statement, reported in the 4th May’s edition of the Wall Street Journal, has received criticism and a strong reaction from IT security experts. They feel that users should still be made aware of how to deal with cyber attacks, and questioned the motivation behind the statement.

Brian Dye, the company’s senior vice president of information security, told the publication that Symantec does not see profit when it thinks of anti-virus (AV). The firm quickly expanded on his statement by admitting that while ‘AV-only’ is over as an era, anti-virus security still holds an important position within the company portfolio.

John Walker, a professor and cyber expert, said that the message needs to reach businesses:

“The people I would like to hear this would be those at the high level in the businesses, those who are responsible for running the business to start to say, ‘I’ve just heard this on the news’, and ask those below them the right questions – ‘does this provide us with security or, if not, what’s the exposure?’”

It would be unwise for businesses to read too much into this and take a back seat when it comes to anti-virus protection. They should be emphasising IT security recruitment now more than ever, as cyber crime technology is likely to continue to pose a threat, and criminals will use whatever means necessary to access the data they need.