Cloudmark's New Fingerprinting Detects E-mail Viruses

Messaging security vendor Cloudmark Inc. today unveiled a new anti-virus fingerprinting algorithm said to disassemble executable code to generate fingerprints that identify new worms and virus strains in real time.

Along with Cloudmark's anti-spam and phishing protection offerings, the anti-virus fingerprinting will be offered to service providers and their customers to automate and accelerate the virus detection and response process. The new algorithm automates the manual "reverse engineering" process that some anti-virus providers rely on to create methods for blocking malware, according to Cloudmark.

The fingerprinting approach will also enable Cloudmark to detect future variants of a virus faster than conventional detection techniques, the company said.

Cloudmark combines its threat detection and removal technology with a network of trusted "reporters" in 160 countries, which provide feedback of messaging threats directly from users.