In virus protection, speed of response is an essential factor in the quality of protection. Minutes can count, literally – often making the difference whether your systems survive an attack or not.

ONE STEP AHEAD OF THE INDUSTRY

F-Secure has a proven track record of reacting faster to new threats and staying one step ahead of the industry in developing protection against new malware.

Average response times in major outbreaks

Note: Includes proactive detections (0 hour)
Source: c't 05/2007, based on data of AV-Test.org

F-Secure's average response time is 2-4 hours. F-Secure updates its customers twice as often as its major competitors. The updates are fully automatic and require no user action.

Average number of updates per week

Source: c't 05/2007, based on data of AV-Test.org

Why Speed Matters

Response delays of a few hours have a significant impact on the amount of damage a virus outbreak can cause in an organization. This is because the amount of infected messages or machines in major virus outbreaks typically follows a roughly exponential curve.

Click here to view a Flash movie that shows in practice why speed matters: the longer you need to wait for an update against a new threat, the greater the risk that your systems will be infected. Furthermore, you can compare how much less your estimated average cost for a virus infection is when you are protected by F-Secure instead of one of its major competitors.

Combining Proactive and Reactive Technologies

All antivirus products provide protection against old viruses and threats. The difference comes in how well they react to new, unknown threats. Antivirus products are typically based on two technologies – proactive techniques, such as heuristics and behaviour blocking, and reactive signature based techniques. An antivirus product can either use only one or combine both technologies as is the case with F-Secure.

In order to protect its customers from so called zero-day and targeted attacks motivated by criminals for financial gains, F-Secure has introduced a new proactive detection technology called F-Secure DeepGuard. F-Secure DeepGuard is a unique HIPS (host-based intrusion prevention system) solution that seamlessly integrates several proactive protection technologies such as advanced heuristics, sandboxing and behavioural blocking.

Proactive technologies can, however, never fully replace virus definition signatures because both are needed for complete security. That is why speed of response is crucial in virus protection today and also in the future. F-Secure’s renowned ability to respond to diverse, unpredictable threats - either reactively or proactively - as they appear makes F-Secure products and services your most reliable choice.

24/7 Research

Antivirus products are only as good as the research and dedication behind them. The F-Secure Data Security Lab, staffed with globally recognized virus experts, is on call 24-hours a day, responding to new and emerging threats. F-Secure’s record fast, automatic updates ensure that the best available protection is always at your disposal.

* AV-Test.org, an independent antivirus testing lab, provides response time testing during virus outbreaks in addition to their detection testing for a wide range of antivirus products. AV-Test.org testing and results are used in major publications and IT security magazines worldwide such as PC-World, PC-WELT, Virus Bulletin, ComputerBild, CHIP and c't. (www.av-test.org)