One thing we learned last week at the RSA Conference. Some new market sectors are emerging. Looks like anti-virus software that uses the cloud is a candidate, especially with the announcement today from Panda Security about its Panda Cloud Anti-Virus, which it is offering as a free download from its site. Here’s Panda’s video they just put up a few hours ago on YouTube. Very funny. Check out Panda’s excellent blog for more from these guys.

Ray Rothrock talked about the growing market for cloud security last week in the interview we did with him about the market future for cloud computing. He in particular talked about the need to secure the entire cloud. We heard similar takes on the future of the cloud from Cisco, Qualys, Blue Coat and VeriSign, all who are now offering a host of cloud related services. How do all these offerings break down? Dana Gardner puts Panda Security in the "Security as a Service," category. The reality is that the computational ability that cloud computing offers makes it far more superior than client based anti-virus software. The people who download the Panda software will form an intelligent mesh, acting as a protective force against attacks. It’s a real-time approach that a client-based approach just can’t match. Dana says it well:

As I said, I hope this model succeeds because it really is a harbinger of how cloud-based services can improve and solve thorny problems in a highly efficient manner that combines the power of community with scale and automation. This may go far in also dissuading the creators of malware because the bad things will be squelched so fast if a Panda model get critical mass that the effort is useless and therefore mute.

Exactly.

Tags: Anti-Virus, Cloud Computing