Cloud-based antivirus works the same way other cloud-based software solutions do: you get a lightweight end-user interface, and the majority of the data analysis and other serious work takes place on the provider’s servers. This is becoming more popular as cloud-based solutions become more mainstream.
Cloud-based antivirus offers several major improvements in performance over traditional antivirus, but it comes with some downsides too. What are the pros and cons of cloud antivirus?
Pro: Nonlocal Processing
In a traditional antivirus, files are tested using data and analytics in your computer. Inevitably, the virus definitions will be behind to some degree, and your computer, unable to spare its whole processing power for antivirus functions, will scan slowly. Additionally, some viruses evade detection by attacking antivirus software, meaning the whole machine has to be boot-time scanned or remotely scanned. Cloud antivirus uses the huge processing power of provider servers to do its analytics with centralized virus definitions that are up-to-date and wide-ranging. Finally, since any cloud-based antivirus analysis is in effect a remote scan, there’s no way the provider’s software can be compromised by viruses on your computer. Win!
Con: Um… Nonlocal Processing?
Panda, the Spanish-based cloud antivirus company, showed how this could be a major flaw in antivirus provision when its latest update classified some of its own front end as malware. The result? The IT equivalent of an autoimmune disease. It wasn’t quite a total disaster, but the update did leave some systems either super crash prone, or unable to access the internet. The point of this tale isn’t to badmouth Panda, who consistently gets pretty good reviews, but to point out that centralized processing means when something goes wrong, it goes wrong everywhere. All at once.
Pro: Analytics and Behavior Sharing
Most antivirus software jumps on certain behaviors in the user’s computer as well as on certain pieces of code. If your machine suddenly sends out thousands of emails, moves its autorun file to a removable disk or comes out in a rash of new executable programs, your antivirus will jump on it. With cloud antivirus, the behavior will be reported to the cloud and can be compared with other users’ data to better identify threat sources, behaviors, and parameters.
Con: Internet Dependency!
If malware cripples your internet connection, how will you use your cloud-based antivirus? At first glance, this looks pretty definitive. But actually, it’s just as likely in a traditional antivirus; they rely on internet connection for malware and virus recognition updates. Without them, your malware protection steadily declines. Besides, we’re all already internet dependent. Who are you kidding?
Pro: System Load Reduction
Basically, running multilevel antivirus that scans files in several different ways is the only way to catch most viruses. But it’s also punishingly expensive in processor and RAM usage. Cloud antivirus is more efficient per iteration so overall it actually uses less processor and RAM capacity. But it does so in a remote location, so it doesn’t slow your device.
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