Cloud Antivirus – New Free Hosted Anti virus Launched

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Cloud Antivirus – a New Free Hosted Anti virus was Launched recently by Panda. As you may aware that a lot of of business applications are now available in the cloud (available online for subscription) now we also have Cloud Antivirus – an Anti virus hosted in the cloud. Cloud Antivirus unlike the traditional Antivirus software is always updated with most recent virus definitions if you are connected to internet.

We are reproducing here with permission some common questions about Cloud Antivirus from Cloud Computing Website Tecnerd.
Cloud Antivirus – Primer

If the Antivirus is in the cloud how it will protect the PC? How Cloud Antivirus is different from traditional antivirus products?

Cloud Antivirus is a cloud based security solution that can be installed and managed from anywhere through a web console. Since it is a hosted service, it doesn’t require infrastructure investment. You typically have options to delegate your security management to expert service providers.

So it is essentially more about management of Antivirus in any organization that goes in the cloud. There will still be an Antivirus product installed in each PC and laptop you have. However you have options to control the updates, profiles and levels of security from a cloud based control panel. However the installed part on PC is a thin version of traditional antivirus product.

How the Cloud Antivirus is deployed?

Normally the Cloud Antivirus can be deployed in two ways. One in which the user clicks on an email which includes a link that will install the protection agent. The other way is where administrator can push the installation to workstations choosing workstations by name, IP address, IP range or by domain.

What are advantages of Cloud Antivirus?

Cloud Antivirus is service not software and so has follwoing advantages:
No installation required
Update without users intervention – always up to date
Access your account from anywhere
Reduces bandwidth consumption (as large number of workstations look for updates in traditional software)
What are dis-advantages of Cloud Antivirus?
Cloud Antivirus not yet a proven model hence the company is targeting the consumers first and not business users
Security risk is to be evaluated

What are Free Cloud Antivirus?

They are similar to other free anti virus but hosted in cloud. You get advantage of low footprint and up to date packages. An example of free cloud anti virus is Panda Cloud antivirus available at www.cloudantivirus.com.