Problem with traditional anti-virus software is that you rely on the technology to auto-update its database to protect itself against the latest threats. This is fine if your AV software is designed to update daily, half-daily or more often. However, if this doesn't happen, then you can get infected quite easily, without knowing you are infected. Boot your computer and you may find you can't get back in to your system.

Trend Micro HouseCall 7.0 is a beta preview of forthcoming technology that will enable you to run an online scanner from your desktop that uses the latest anti-virus definitions to thoroughly check your computer for the latest threats. The downside is that you need to have valid online connection and hope any infection hasn't affected how you interact with a remote server.

Trend Micro HouseCall link.

04 Jun 2009