Comments on: The Big Panda tries an evolutionary breakthrough

By: Kheong

Kheong — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:38:30 +0000

As I have just come across “Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.0 Release” from your latest post, I will leave my comment on your website.

Conceptually, the technology is quite interesting with the benefit that the latest malware signature does not have to be downloaded to my pc before I can be protected. However, my primary concerns about this technology is that we are giving permission to a company based in Spain the right to go thru our computers and take any data they want….

Excerpt from their website
http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/media/legal-notice/#e10

“The User is hereby informed and gives consent for his or her data to be included in automated data files belonging to Panda Security -with registered offices at Gran Vía Don Diego López de Haro 4- and which are registered in the Spanish General Data Protection Register and for said data to be processed as the consequence of the consultation request or purchase of any service or product or any other transaction or operation carried out with the aim of accessing information or services provided by Panda Security on its website or to maintain the contractual relationship or to sent marketing information to the User by any means including email.

The User also gives his or her express consent for the aforementioned personal data to be transferred to Panda Security’s International Representatives and or Authorised Distributors, solely and exclusively for the purposes established in the above paragraph and in accordance with the Organic Law on the Protection of Personal Data and in Instruction 1/2000 on the International Transfer of Personal Data. More information about the identity of Panda Security’s International Representatives and Authorised Distributors is available at: http://www.pandasecurity.com/about/contact/ .”

Is it just me or does this not concern anyone else?

By: Salem

Salem — Mon, 18 May 2009 22:01:00 +0000

Think of it like this; every file thats scanned while you are connected to your computer is checked with the latest list of virus definitions available. The local cache only has the most recent definitions, however, and does not include any older threats, or anything deemed 'outdated.' Better safe than sorry, I suppose. Secondly, (Michael, correct me if I'm terribly wrong), I believe a portion of the actual scanning itself is done in the cloud; a signature is taken from the file, sent to the cloud, checked, and any positives are returned, hence the ridiculously small load on your computer. Salem´s last blog post..Meet the Spy video; leaked!

By: Goyta' F. Villela Jr.

Goyta' F. Villela Jr. — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:02:40 +0000

If a local copy is kept, what’s the point in looking it up in the cloud? A local lookup will always be faster, even if you have the most dizzying fast Internet connection in the world. So, what’s the advantage of that instead of frequent updates? (Norton 2009 is said to be updating the virus database every 5-10 minutes!)

By: Salem

Salem — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:17:45 +0000

Sorry about that I couldn’t resist, could I?

Salem´s last blog post..Wolfram Alpha: the answer to all your questions

By: Michael Aulia

Michael Aulia — Mon, 18 May 2009 10:56:24 +0000

Hey Salem, you beat me to it I was about to answer that there is a local copy kept when the internet access is down.

Although nowadays, a day without an internet is like a day without the electricity!