Clam AntiVirus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Clam AntiVirus | |
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| Developed by | Tomasz Kojm |
| Latest release | 0.93.1 / June 9, 2008 |
| OS | Cross-platform |
| Genre | Antivirus software |
| License | GNU General Public License |
| Website | www.clamav.net |
Clam AntiVirus (ClamAV), is an antivirus software toolkit for Windows and Unix-like operating systems. One of its main uses is with mail exchange servers as a server-side email virus scanner.
Distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL), ClamAV is free Software. Both ClamAV and its updates are made available free of charge.
Sourcefire, a maker of intrusion detection products and the owner of Snort, announced on 2007-08-17 that it had acquired the trademarks and copyrights to ClamAV from five key developers.[1]
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[edit] Distributions
[edit] Linux
ClamAV can be compiled from source, or installed as binary (if distributed with the operating system).
Under Linux, it is most likely that ClamAV will run in daemon mode, servicing requests to scan files sent from other processes. These can include mail exchange programs, files on Samba shares, or packets of data passing through a proxy server (IPCop, for example, has an add-on called Copfilter which scans incoming packets for malicious data).
[edit] Mac OS X
Apple Mac OS X Server has included ClamAV since version 10.4. It is used within the operating system's email service. A graphical user interface is available in the form of ClamXav. Additionally, Fink and MacPorts have ported ClamAV to the platform too.
Another program to use ClamAV on Mac is Counteragent. Working alongside the Eudora Internet Mail Server program, Counteragent scans emails for viruses using ClamAV (and also provides spam filtering through SpamAssassin).
[edit] Microsoft Windows
ClamWin is a graphical user interface version of ClamAV for Microsoft Windows. Features include on-demand (user started) scanning, automatic updates, scan scheduling, context menu integration to Explorer, and an add-in for Microsoft Outlook. To provide on-access scanning (scan when a file is read or written), the free software Winpooch must be used. A plug-in for Mozilla Firefox which uses ClamWin to scan downloaded files is also available.[2]
ClamAV is also integrated Moon Secure AV[3] and optionally into Spyware Terminator[4], which are able to use ClamAV for real-time protection and on-demand scans.
[edit] Graphical interfaces to ClamAV
- ClamWin for Microsoft Windows.
- KlamAV for KDE (see KlamAV Homepage)
- ClamTk for Linux which uses gtk2-perl (see ClamTk Homepage).
- ClamXav is a freeware port for Mac OS X which includes a graphical user interfaces and has a "sentry" service which can watch for changes or new files in many cases. There is also an update and scanning scheduler through a cron job facilitated by the graphical interface.
- Tiger Cache Cleaner is a shareware software for Mac OS X which installs and presents a graphic interface for using Clamav to scan their computers as well as other unrelated functions.
- Untangle is an open source network gateway that leverages ClamAV in its Virus Blocker application
[edit] Comparisons
ClamAV is occasionally included in comparative tests against other antivirus products; some results are provided below. In response to low scores, some commentators with contrary experience have suggested that the testing procedures, which are often undocumented, do not represent a fair evaluation of the software.[5] In addition, ClamAV is often not included in mainstream tests, possibly due to there historically being no business to sponsor its inclusion.[6]
- AV-Test (2008)[7]
- On-demand: very poor
- False positives: poor
- On-access: poor
- Response time: very good
- Rootkits: very poor
- Virus.gr (2007)[8]
- ClamWin ranked 39th (out of 53)
- Untangle (2007)
- Ranked 2nd (out of 10)[9]
[edit] Patent controversy
Barracuda Networks is being sued by Trend Micro for its distribution of ClamAV as part of a security package.[10] Trend Micro claims that Barracuda's utilization of ClamAV infringes on a software patent for filtering viruses on an Internet gateway.[11] The free software community has responded in part by calling for a boycott against Trend Micro.[11] The boycott has been endorsed by the Free Software Foundation.[12]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Sourcefire acquires ClamAV. ClamAV (2007-09-17). Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
- ^ ClamWin Antivirus Glue for Firefox. Firefox Addons. Retrieved on 2008-04-15.
- ^ Info About Moon Secure
- ^ Key Features of Spyware Terminator
- ^ Adam Hyde (2005-07-15). Antivirus Tools: Clam AV Is The Best -- But Where Are The Rest?. InformationWeek. Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
- ^ Dirk Morris (2007-09-05). AntiVirus Fightclub!. Untangle. Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
- ^ Anti-virus comparison test of current anti-malware products, Q1/2008. AV-Test GmbH (2008-01-22). Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
- ^ 23 April-10 May 2007. Virus.GR (2007-03-10). Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
- ^ Untangle Fight Club (2007-09-05). Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
- ^ Trend Micro patent claim provokes FOSS community, leads to boycott. Linux.com (2008-02-11). Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
- ^ a b Boycott Trend Micro. ScriptumLibre (2008-02-08). Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
- ^ Boycott Trend Micro. Free Software Foundation (2008-02-11). Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- Freshmeat project page
- SourceForge project page
- An interview with ClamAV founder Tomasz Kojm
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