Panda Cloud Antivirus

Panda Cloud Antivirus
Developer(s) Panda Security
Initial release November 10, 2009
Stable release 15.1.0 / February 20, 2015
Development status Current
Operating system Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8
Platform 32-bit, 64-bit
Available in English, German, Spanish, Greek, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Turkish and Chinese
Type Antivirus
License lifelong license
Website http://www.cloudantivirus.com/

Panda Cloud Antivirus is antivirus software by Panda Security; a free and a paid version are available. It is cloud-based in the sense that files are scanned on a remote server without using processing power of the user's machine. The cloud technology is based on Panda's Collective Intelligence.[1] It can run constantly, providing protection against viruses and malicious websites but slowing the system to some extent,[2] or do a system scan.

Features

According to Panda Security, Panda Cloud Antivirus is able to detect viruses, trojans, worms, spyware, dialers, hacking tools, hacker and other security risks.[3]

Panda Cloud Antivirus relies on its "Collective Intelligence" and the cloud for up-to-date information.[4] It normally uses an Internet connection to access up-to-date information; if the Internet cannot be accessed, it will use a local cache of "the most common threats in circulation".[5]

Reviews

An April 2009 review found Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.0 to be clean, fast, simple, easy to use, and with good detection rates.[2] The same review scored Panda 100.00% in malware detection and 100.0% in malicious URL detection. Its overall score was 100%, a strong protection factor considering it is software.[6]

When version 1.0 was released on November 10, 2009, PC Magazine reviewed Panda Cloud Antivirus and gave it an Editor's Choice Award for Best AV.[7]

Tech Radar's review states "We think that Panda Cloud Antivirus is best viewed as a defense tool rather than a utility for cleaning up a system that's already riddled with infection."[8]

Lifehacker's review states that the antivirus is lightweight, and is a fresh approach to attacking malware. However they did not try to detect real malware (only tracking cookies) in their test.[9]

When Softpedia reviewed the software they said that it had a high overall detection rate, but had trouble listing all the results. Overall they say it is the best in the market for lightweight usage, and is easy to use, with a clean interface.[10] Version 1.4 changes: Toolbar and URL Filtering compatibility with Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox 4

License

The free edition of Panda Cloud Antivirus is released under a license. Its usage is exclusively allowed for private households, state schools, non-governmental and non-profit organizations.[11]

Competitors

Other cloud-based anti-virus companies are:

References

External links