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Virus writers keep cranking out new malicious code, and Symantec keeps cranking out new versions of its popular Norton AntiVirus program to stop them.

On Monday the company announced Version 2003, due September 1, which it says will automatically protect a PC from evolving threats such as advanced e-mail worms and infected instant messaging attachments.

Norton AntiVirus 2003 will sell for $50; the professional version will carry a $70 price; and an upgrade for current users of any antivirus software will run $30.

Avoid the Worm

Worms in particular have evolved to become one of the biggest threats and annoyances on the Internet today, says Laura Garcia, product manager for Norton AntiVirus.

Early worms often commandeered Microsoft's Outlook program to mail themselves to other PCs. But after Microsoft changed Outlook to prevent this, virus writers started creating worms capable of e-mailing themselves, she says.

Norton AntiVirus 2003 works to stop these malicious buggers with a new technology called Worm Blocking, Garcia says. The technology looks for these types of worms by monitoring your PC's outbound e-mail traffic. If it sees something that looks like a worm, the program stops the message and alerts the user, she says.

The important advance here is the Worm Blocking technology can detect worms without a current definition. Definitions are the code antivirus engineers write after they detect a new virus (it's the weekly download you get for your software). Using advanced heuristics--a type of artificial intelligence--the Worm Blocking technology actually watches for programs that act like a worm.

"We're excited because of the number of infections it will catch," she says. "We've filed for a patent on this concept."

Instant Headache

Another evolving threat that the new program addresses is viruses attached to instant messages, Garcia says. With the growing popularity of services as AOL Instant Messenger and Yahoo Messenger, it was just a matter of time before virus writers targeted them.

"This doesn't come as a surprise," she says. Viruses have always spread through the most popular methods of sharing files. "First it was the floppy, now e-mail, and eventually IM."

Currently there is no way to actually infect an instant message itself, but it is possible to send a virus-laden attachment. As more people use IM services to transfer files, this will become a bigger problem.

To prevent this, version 2003 automatically scans all instant message attachments, she says. Eventually the program will scan the messages themselves, as virus writers will no doubt find ways to infect them, too. Once upon a time you had to open an e-mail attachment to become infected, but that's certainly not the case anymore, she says.

Easier to use

Another major improvement to this version of Antivirus: it leaves you alone.

Whereas previous versions have a habit of popping up alerts when they detect something nasty, Version 2003 takes it upon itself to take care of things without bugging you first, she says.

"It's a completely automated way of dealing with viruses, worms, and Trojans," she says. While the 2002 version could detect and automatically destroy a virus, the new software can handle worms and Trojans the same way.

Today when most anti virus programs detect a threat an alert goes up that tells you the name of the infected file. Then it asks you what to do, she says. The average home user doesn't know if they should repair it, delete it, or quarantine it, she says.

What's new with 2003 is we detect the threat, analyze it, and remove it from the system. You just get a message that says the job was done.

"You don't have to figure out what to do anymore," she says.

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