Smart agents could one day roam computer networks hunting down viruses, says
IBM. Today’s antivirus software can only detect known viruses, so new ones can
be very dangerous. But IBM’s agents, which it is developing with the University
of Southampton, are based on neural network software that can be “trained” to
profile the normal behaviour of a computer network by monitoring how often files
are updated, what sort of changes are made, how big the files are, and so on.
This profile is used by the agent to define “normal” computer behaviour, and it
alerts the system administrator if there are any departures from this.
More from 91av
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending 91av articles
1
Fully autonomous drones have killed human soldiers for the first time
2
Why we should all take quantum physics extremely personally
3
Understanding anorexia’s grip on the brain could unlock new therapies
4
What is a ‘normal’ memory slowdown, and when should I worry?
5
Toy universe shows that time could be a quantum illusion
6
Global map reveals the vast scale of underground fungal networks
7
Ditching cigarettes for vapes may curb the cancer benefits of quitting
8
Millions of fossil whale bones found in deep-ocean ‘necropolis’
9
El Niño has started and the weather could get weird
10
A golden age of maths is dawning and mathematicians are freaking out
