Ever since I switched to Mac seven years ago, I never thought about my computer getting infected with viruses. (Yes, I know Mac have viruses too — but not enough to care about, yet.) However, Windows’ longtime battle with viruses won’t be over so there is still a market for antivirus software. I just don’t know what’s happening with Symantec.

The antivirus pioneer seems to be failing as the company admits its anti-virus software couldn’t detect most malware attacks; in fact, according a Symantec executive believes anti-virus products stop only 45 percent of the cyberattacks today. Programmers and critics have been noticing that and Symantec was humble enough to admit it.

This is bad news for anti-virus companies and seems like more people have noticed. People are trusting them less now especially after new products and services are being introduced left and right. Companies like FireEye and Juniper Networks are rolling out better products and different approaches to defending the computers with various detection techniques.

The key here to note is, Symantec isn’t say their software is failing. Rather, they are saying the traditional anti-virus approach based around database of malware signatures is no longer an effective method to protect against malware. Rather, new techniques need to be developed to fight new threats and Symantec seems to be falling behind the times — it still draws roughly 40% revenue from sale of traditional anti-virus products to consumers.

[via Ars Technica]