M86 Security Finds URL Filters, Anti-Virus Scanners Ineffective

Doug Caverly
Staff Writer
2010-03-02

New data from M86 Security corroborates the widely held idea that anti-virus scanners and URL filters won't save careless Web users. Indeed, the security company estimates that more than half of all threats can evade these two means of detection, leaving people at risk from lots of nasty stuff.

M86 Security's new report, "Closing the Vulnerability Window in Today's Web Environment," indicates that anti-virus scanning correctly identifies just 39 percent of Web threats, which isn't exactly impressive. But the practice of URL filtering fares even worse, detecting just 3 percent of threats.

Assuming these figures are accurate, something obviously needs to be done, and it seems that adding a third layer of security may be the trick.

Read more...
http://www.securitypronews.com/insiderreports/insider/spn-49-20100302M86SecurityFindsURLFiltersAntiVirusScannersIneffective.html

Don