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Online threat detection 'is improving'

Online threat detection may have taken a step forward with a new method designed to contain worms and prevent their ongoing spread.

WebIndia123.com reports that experts at Ohio State University have developed a means of limiting the effects of malware such as the worms.

Although such malicious software may often be considered an isolated problem on an individual machine, some types are capable of spreading at great pace.

In 2001, a virulent virus infected more than 350,000 machines in 14 hours, blocking traffic to subway stations, interfering with emergency calls and causing $2.6 billion (£1.3 billion) in losses.

Ness Shroff, who led the team that worked on the project, explains: "We wanted to find a way to catch infections in their earliest stages, before they get that far."

The developers have been working on online security software that monitors the number of scans being conducted by individual machines - a sign that they may be infected.

Administrators who have had such machines flagged up for them can isolate and scan them to prevent the spread of such viruses.

That such work is being conducted is testament to the seriousness with which online threats are treated by experts in the field.

Earlier this week, the Hindu Business Line reported that China and the US were the locations from which the highest levels of malicious internet activity were being implemented.


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