On Thursday at the Interop conference in Las Vegas, antivirus vendor Panda Software released a Web-based product that it claims will spot malware that normally goes undetected by traditional security programs.

Because it's offered as a Web service, Panda said its new Malware Radar product can store thousands more virus signatures than client-resident security applications. Its signature file consists of more than 950,000 virus signatures, the company said.

To spot malicious code, antivirus programs compare the characteristics of virus signatures stored in their data files to code that's stored on a network or a PC. A match means a virus is present.

Panda said it's aiming Malware Radar at companies of all sizes.

Undetected malware is becoming a major problem for businesses. According to research firm Gartner, 75% of enterprises will be infected with viruses not found by traditional defense systems. The problem: viruses are increasingly custom designed to evade host and network perimeter defense systems.

Panda said that in May alone its software detected more than 80,000 individual malware variations -- more than twice the number that emerged in all of the past five years prior.

The company said it has developed a new methodology for detecting malware that's embedded in Malware Radar called Collective Intelligence. As an online, security-as-a-service feature, Collective Intelligence can detect ten times more virus files than traditional products, Panda claimed.

Panda said Malware Radar is designed to complement, not replace, existing client-side antivirus software offered by vendors like Symantec and others.

Malware Radar is available for free as one-time demo for installations of up to 100 workstations.