Is Antivirus Cloud-Scanning Secure?

[MJD]

So a lot of antivirus software touts cloud scanning.  I'm really not clear on what this is.  I'm looking for a new antivirus but cloud scanning sounds like they upload my files to their servers to be scanned which seems like that would put my data at risk of being viewed.  Am I misunderstanding cloud scanning?  With the speed of today's computers, cloud scanning seems like a major security risk.

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

 

What exactly "cloud-scanning" means tends to vary by the anti-malware vendor, since there's no exact definition on what "cloud-scanning" means.

 

A very basic example would be a realtime scanning component of the anti-malware software that calculates a hash for files as they are run, and compares them against a list of "known" hashes stored on the Internet.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

[Alwaysonacoffebreak]

Hello,

 

What exactly "cloud-scanning" means tends to vary by the anti-malware vendor, since there's no exact definition on what "cloud-scanning" means.

 

A very basic example would be a realtime scanning component of the anti-malware software that calculates a hash for files as they are run, and compares them against a list of "known" hashes stored on the Internet.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

So not exactly as secure as local scans right?

[Decebalvs Rex]

Virus definitions are not downloaded but used in real-time for scans. Also known file types are compared to a list from the cloud , the scaning engine again makes use of cloud technology.

Panda Cloud is the smallest AV there? Perhaps?

[T3X4S]

Get webroot Secure Anywhere AV - its cloud-based, has the smallest resource footprint of all - and is by far the best thing there is on the market.  I have it on maybe 30 computers right now, and not a single one ever has a problem - thats in 2 years - and some of those people were infection magnets.

I dont even have MBAM installed anymore - its simply a thing of the past.  When people in here were all talking about how great MSE was I told them to check it out and quit regurgitating what they heard someone else say - they dont know what they're talking about - and now even MS admits MSE sucks.

Trust me, just try it.

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

 

Not necessarily.  There's just different kinds of risk.  

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

 

So not exactly as secure as local scans right?