McAfee Redesigns Tools in Fight Against Malicious Software

McAfee Inc. is overhauling its security software to more rapidly identify malicious computer files, a technology shift that reflects a widening recognition that more needs to be done to stop cybercriminals.

The Silicon Valley company, as well as its major rivals in the $30 billion computer-security industry, are beginning to exploit the Internet in new ways to block malware -- a catchall term for viruses, worms, Trojans and other software threats. Instead of comparing programs against a catalog of known malware stored on customers' PCs -- which is typically updated once a day -- a new McAfee technology called Artemis checks files against an online database that is updated constantly as threats are discovered.

The idea is to more quickly propagate information about known malware. "It's allowed us to take a 24-hour window and reduce it to 100 milliseconds," says Dave DeWalt, McAfee's chief executive and president.

McAfee's chief rivals Trend Micro Inc. and Symantec Corp., plus a host of other companies, have similar plans. But some analysts say that though the new approach is an improvement, it isn't sufficient to cope with some fast-changing threats.

Criminals may trick people into installing malware by disguising the files as pictures in emails or links on Web sites. Once installed, the code can transmit copies of personal or corporate information, or make a computer do things like send spam emails.