Mcafee, inc. reinvents computer security
Breakthrough McAfee Artemis Technology Utilizes New Real Time Service in The Cloud, Significantly Reducing Exposure to Emerging Threats
McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE) today announced a technology breakthrough that redefines how computers are protected against viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other malicious programs, dramatically increasing the level of computer security.
The technology, called McAfee(R) Artemis Technology, uses a new Internet-based service hosted by McAfee Avert(R) Labs to provide active protection on the fly when a computer gets hit by malicious computer code. Artemis is the industry's first technology to shield computer users against attacks as they happen without requiring a traditional, scheduled update of threat signatures to be installed on the machine.
"McAfee Avert Labs projects a true malware onslaught this year with 300 percent more malicious programs in 2008 compared to 2007," said Jeff Green, Senior Vice President of McAfee Avert Labs. "Clearly today's threat landscape requires a different approach to malware detection. Artemis is the first protection mechanism that works in Internet time, providing unprecedented protection."
Malware writers are becoming more sophisticated in their techniques. Financially motivated attacks have doubled with eight out of ten attacks designed to make cybercriminals money. Attacks primarily arrive via the Web or e-mail and the vast majority of today's malware is programmed to quietly steal a victim's sensitive information.
McAfee Artemis Technology provides an important new weapon in the fight against cybercrime, allowing McAfee's security products to provide protection from known and emerging threats.
"The traditional signature-based approach to detecting malware is no longer enough," said Charles Kolodgy, Research Director for IDC's Security Products Service. "While user behaviour has changed and the threat landscape has evolved, malware detection technology generally hasn't kept pace. McAfee's program represents a major shift in how the massive increase in malware should be dealt with. This approach returns the innovation initiative to the defense, one-upping malware writers."
Artemis is the first technology to virtually eliminate the protection gap by providing rapid reaction to threats for which signature files have yet to be released. 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.
The Artemis service in the cloud is unlike any previous system for classifying and identifying malicious software. It is powered by McAfee's Community Threat Intelligence, which includes security know-how from McAfee's researchers, threat honey pots and real-time input from tens of millions of systems protected by McAfee to make computer security on every computer protected by McAfee smarter and safer.
Key benefits of Artemis include:
• 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
Availability
Artemis is available today as part of McAfee Total Protection Service for small and medium-sized businesses and will be available later this month for McAfee VirusScan(R) Enterprise and McAfee's consumer products. There is no charge for Artemis, which will be called "Active Protection" in the consumer products.
Additional Information
For additional information on Artemis visit the McAfee Web site at http://www.mcafee.com/artemis
