CloudAV

What Does CloudAV Mean?

CloudAV is an anti-virus program that runs as an Internet service and facilitates the use of multiple anti-virus programs without running on a local machine and impacting performance. CloudAV is proven effective against the majority of virus and malware, including zero-day threats.

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Techopedia Explains CloudAV

Developed at the University of Michigan, CloudAV uses the following components to produce a high-quality anti-virus system in the cloud:

  • A cross-platform host agent
  • Two behavioral detection engines (resource heavy)
  • A network service with 10 anti-virus engines

CloudAV uses a technique known as N-version protection, which uses multiple versions of the same anti-virus detection engines to identify malicious software. This protection mechanism scans received files before they are opened by a user.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…