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IBM.OWN
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1995-12-20
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PLEASE NOTE !
The following comments are directly from antivirus representatives.
Therefore Virus Research Unit cannot take any responsibility for reliability
of the comments.
==============================================================================
Subject: IBM AntiVirus
RESEARCH CONTACT:
David Chess
IBM Research
(914)784-6665
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Andrea R. Minoff
IBM AntiVirus
914-759-4713
minoff@vnet.ibm.com
Marcy Holle
IBM Research
914-945-3971
IBM ANTIVIRUS OFFERS COMPLETE SOLUTION
TO ADDRESS THE VIRUS THREAT
IBM offers an integrated suite of anti-virus products and services,
including software that protects personal computer users by detecting
and removing more than 6,000 strains of computer viruses.
As more and more users access the Internet and other global
networks, the possibility of acquiring a computer virus could be greater,
increasing the need to have an anti-virus solution. IBM AntiVirus,
available worldwide for businesses of all sizes, as well as home users,
is supported by expert technicians, with an anti-virus Computer
Emergency Response Team (CERT*) available on a subscription basis.
The advanced anti-virus technology is developed and maintained
at IBM's High Integrity Computing Laboratory at the Thomas J. Watson
Research Center, located about one hour north of New York City.
Today, thousands of viruses can infiltrate PC systems. Viruses
can hamper productivity by destroying valuable data and creating
problems that could result in computer downtime. They are spread from
computer to computer by shared diskettes and over networks, including
the Internet.
Advanced Anti-Virus Technology
IBM AntiVirus is advanced anti-virus technology. It is developed
and maintained at the Watson lab, where manyof the world's most
respected anti-virus researchers have applied their expertise to
the development of the technology for more than sevenyears.
"IBM AntiVirus is a comprehensive solution to the virus problem
today," said Steve White, senior manager of the lab at the Watson
Research Center. "Here at IBM Research, we're creating technology that
will provide solutions to the problems we see well into the next century.
IBM AntiVirus will evolve into a worldwide immune system for computer
viruses that will protect users on a global scale."
IBM AntiVirus scans memory, hard disks, floppy drives and
network servers for the thousands of viruses, including polymorphic
viruses that change to avoid detection, and viruses previously
considered impossible to detect. For defending against previously
unknown viruses, IBM has heuristics that attempt to detect viruses by
watching for appearances or behavior that are characteristic of viruses.
On average, there are three to five new viruses discovered
every day. At IBM Research, researchers track virus incidents
throughout the world and update IBM AntiVirus continuously with new
disinfection measures.
Expert Service and Support
IBM AntiVirus customers have available to them a broad range of
expert services, including technical support with rapid technical
assistance, virus signature updates and Bulletin Board support, quarterly
software upgrades, electronic updates and CERT guidance. IBM's virus
CERT has more than seven years of experience in virus emergency
response and incident management.
"IBM is providing the world's computing community with an
anti-virus solution that addresses these pervasive electronic threats. It
is a major component of IBM's overall I/T Security capability," said Tony
Martinez, manager of I/T Security services.
IBM AntiVirus Editions
Designed for home and small businesses, the new Desktop
Edition runs on OS/2** Warp, DOS and Windows**, with
a Windows 95 version to be available in mid-December.
The Enterprise Edition, ideal for larger businesses and
client/server environments, includes all the software needed to
implement a thorough and effective anti-virus solution throughout an
enterprise. It includes IBM AntiVirus for OS/2, DOS, Windows and Novell
NetWare**. It also offers complementary products to distribute and
update anti-virus software and administer anti-virus policy across the
enterprise.
Superior Reliability
IBM AntiVirus has advanced false alarm elimination. This is
important because the disruption of false alarms can be as bad as
viruses themselves. For added protection, IBM AntiVirus uses infection
verification to ensure that a suspected virus truly is that particular
virus before disinfection takes place. This helps ensure that the
system will be disinfected safely even after a massive infection.
With IBM AntiVirus, critical applications run safely, even when
infected with common viruses, without fear of spreading the infection or
damaging the applications. IBM AntiVirus even alerts the user to
suspicious virus-like activity.
Broad Distribution
IBM AntiVirus is widely available through reseller and retail
outlets. More than 30 channel partners now offer the software,
including distributors, corporate resellers and computer retail
stores, throughout the U.S. and Europe. the list includes
distributors Ingram Micro and Tech Data, corporate reseller
Stream and Micro Center Super Stores. The Desktop Edition
carries a suggested retail price of $49.00 for a single user.
Businesses also have a wide range of options for purchasing the
Enterprise Edition.
"Stream is pleased to offer IBM's AntiVirus software to our
Fortune 1000 corporate customer base," said Tom Bloomquist, director
for Stream International Inc. "With the growing number of desktops
linked by networks and the Internet, it's imperative that customers
have reliable tools for protecting the integrity of their computer
data."
I/T Industry Leadership
IBM AntiVirus is part of IBM's overall I/T Security capability. IBM
offers I/T Security consulting and services, and hardware and software
products with a strong focus on the Internet. These capabilities are
described on IBM's I/T Security home page:
http://www.ibm.com/Security.
More specific information regarding the IBM AntiVirus solution is
available on the product's home page at
http://www.brs.ibm.com/ibmav.html and at 1 (800)742-2493.
# # #
111695
* CERT is a service mark of Carnegie Mellon University.
** Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. IBM and
OS/2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines
Corporation. NetWare is a trademark of Novell Corporation.
# # #
Contact: Andrea Minoff
IBM AntiVirus
914-759-4713
COMPUTERS AND EPIDEMIOLOGY: CREATING AN
AUTOMATED IMMUNE SYSTEM
Computer scientists at IBM Research are emulating medical
researchers as they search cyberspace for computer viruses.
These researchers at IBM are applying an epidemiological
approach to the study of viruses. That's the branch of science that
studies the spread of human viruses.
Specifically, IBM is collecting statistics from actual incidents, and
electronically simulating the spread of a virus. This research has led
to a variety of insights and tools to help computer users better cope
with the threat.
How severe is the computer virus threat?
Several trends are making computer viruses a greater threat
today than ever before. First, new viruses are being written at the rate
of three to five per day. Yet another factor is the increased
interconnectivity and interoperability of computers.
"As the world gets more networked and software is distributed
via vehicles such as the
Internet, viruses will be able to spread around the world in hours," said
Steve White, senior manager,
High Integrity Computing Laboratory, IBM Research Division?s
Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y.
"Today's viruses are only the tip of the iceberg."
Given this challenge, the mission of IBM researchers is to create
an automated immune system for the world's computers that will
automatically protect them from viruses, even viruses we've never seen
before. Preventive anti-virus software makes a significant difference
because when a virus incident happens, it spreads quickly.
Like the human immune system, IBM's system develops antibodies
to previously unencountered computer viruses and remembers them so
as to recognize and more quickly respond to them in the future.
IBM's AntiVirus software is the result of more than six years of
research, and leverages the best statistics and understanding of viruses
in the industry. For example, IBM AntiVirus offers generic virus
disinfection, safely removing viruses from files, without hurting the
users' applications and system.
IBM has also applied neural network technology to detect
previously unknown viruses. By showing a neural network a large
number of infected and uninfected programs, IBM researchers trained it
to discriminate between viruses and uninfected programs.
What is the next step for the anti-virus researchers at IBM?
"We're looking into using the Internet to keep us in constant
communication with our customers, so we can uncover new viruses
and respond more quickly than ever before," said White.
# # #
- Your speed test wasn't really representative; in normal
usage, customers will be using the GUI, not IBMAVSP, and
the GUI takes advantage of the database (on all but the
install-time run) to speed up checking considerably. It
wouldn't surprise me at all if a realistic timing of a
not-install-time run of the GUI (IBMAVD or IBMAV2) was
two or three times as fast as the IBMAVSP run that you
timed. A recent Virus Bulletin test had the same
problem; we pointed out the non-representativeness of
the test, and the next time they tested, they did a
better test, and we came out among the fastest. See
recent VBs for the details.
- You seem to weight number-of-viruses-detected somewhat
higher in your tests of the TSRs than you do RAM taken up
or system performance. Our experience suggests that
customers are *very* reluctant to slow down their
computers or take up valuable DOS memory space, for
the sake of detecting a virus that was seen a few
times long ago, somewhere on another continent. Our
TSRs are designed to protect users from the most
common viruses, at acceptable cost in size and speed.
- If you have a list of contacts or anything for the
products, the IBMAV web pages are at
http://www.brs.ibm.com/ibmav.html
Thanks much for the opportunity to see your findings, and
add our commentary!
DC