Cloud Antivirus Beta2 Released
Thanks to the millions who have downloaded and installed Panda Cloud Antivirus Beta1 (0.08.80) and sent feedback to help us improve the product before its final release. Today we’re releasing Panda Cloud Antivirus Beta2 (0.08.81).
INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
1- Uninstall the Beta1 from Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs. Reboot.
2- Download the Beta2 from http://www.cloudantivirus.com.
3- Install the Beta2.
BETA2 IMPROVEMENTS
We focused Beta2 on fixing the most important detection & disinfection aspects per feedback from the community. The following is a list of items that are either new or fixed in Beta2. If you have any doubts about any of them feel free to post your question as a comment.
New – “Undo” Option for Recycle Bin
Some users complained about the effect of the automated deletion of known malware. In some cases where users want these samples to not be deleted and/or in the case of false positives, there was no option to recover these files. A new option has been added with Beta2 to the Recycle Bin so users can recover deleted detections for a period of 3 days (configurable by CI). During this time period file icons will be changed to show that the file is quarantined in the Recycle Bin. NOTE: this does not apply to “disinfected” files, only to “deleted” files.
New – Synchronous Real-Time Cloud-Scan
Under some circumstances files being executed (directly from Internet download, from a read-only network share, etc.) were checked asynchronously against the cloud after the file was loaded into memory. This resulted in detection+disinfection actions to be taken after infection. With Beta2 we changed this behaviour to block the execution until a response has been received by Collective Intelligence. In the event that it is malware, the file will be deleted prior to allowing it to execute.
New – Latency & Response Control of the Cloud-Scanner
We deployed 10 sensors throughout America, Europe and Asia and have detected that 98.41% of the Collective Intelligence queries are responded to within 3 seconds. However, in the remaining cases there is not a control mechanism and if the response is not timely (because of connectivity issues, latency, proxy delays, etc.) then the program would be allowed to execute prior to receiving the response from Collective Intelligence. With the new response control mechanism, programs executing which take longer than 6 seconds to receive an answer from Collective Intelligence are put “on hold” for a second timeout period of 30 seconds after which the program is unblocked and allowed to execute (although it will continue being scanned asynchronously).
Fixed – Slow Scans
Right after installation Panda Cloud Antivirus launches a BackgroundScan of the entire PC to ensure it is clean. Some users reported that launching an On-Demand scan of the entire PC right after install slowed down the PC and/or caused the scan to take a long time. This bug was due to both the BackgroundScan and OnDemandScan running simultaneously. With Beta2 this is fixed by having the BackgroundScan automatically pause in case it detects an OnDemandScan being launched. Once the OnDemandScan is finished, the BackgroundScan will resumen where it left off.
Fixed – Recycle Bin Unblock Functionality
Under some circumstances and with certain types of malware, some users reported that unblocking a suspicious/potentially unwanted malware that was sent to the Recycle Bin, resulted in it being continuously detected over and over again. This has been fixed in Beta2.
Other Fixes
By the way, we’ll still release a Beta3 version prior to final release of Version 1.0. For Beta3 we’re already working on new platforms (Windows7, 64bits), improved features, a new website, a Collective Intelligence real-time encyclopedia and some additional things. Expect the Beta3 to be released around September.
Today I got a notice about 10 days left of beta.
I downloaded the new version and installed it.
After this I notice significant increase in disk-activity.
PSANHost.exe has in 10hours done over 136.400.000 I/O-reads and over 4.490.00 I/O-writes.
Is this normal?
I’m having this same issue. The new beta is consuming anywhere from 10-35% of my cpu usage at any given time (I was tipped off when seeing my cpu light flashing while my screensaver had been running for hours).
Explain to me again what the benefits of this “light weight” program is if it’s going to chew through running memory like this. This is worse than any of the bulky anti-virus programs I’ve used in the past.
@joel
click on the just after the time/date there is an hidden field click on the file you want to restore or delete move your mouse over to the right of it and there are 2 box’s first one restores second one Permanent removes the file
as this leads to below report (i am using an google phone so email used is linked to me phone so if you got google IM or even just the google mail or any mail i can talk or respond in real time on how to make it bit simpler i am UK time zone)
must report that the Recycle bin does not seem to do any thing not even sure what its there for bit annoying really as it should be listing programs/files that are been blocked in there as you cant do any thing from the event log to unblock/delete stuff you Have to goto the file it self and unblock it or Delete it bit of an pain really
i fix computers quite often so i know what i am doing and users will not fully understand how the recycle bin work at the moment you have 3 places where stuff can be an event log, the recycle bin and the can,t find button
No undo/delete option for files that have been neutralized (! or ? on the files) from the main client it self
Is it normal that in this Beta 2 Windows does not recognize Panda Antivirus as an AV application and complains? Didn’t have the problem with Beta 1. I do not want to disable the Windows security check
@Marco
here is a screenshot: http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/9006/errorlxs.jpg
Hi!
My Cloud Antivirus detected a malware file and blocked it. Then, I unblocked it but now I can’t block the malware again, and it’s not even detected by the AV. What about showing on the analysis, at the “Not Neutralyzed” area, those unblocked files? And I also think it’s necessary an option to block them again…
I don’t know if I explained myself hahaha
@blaster219, @JamesB, @jsn, @Nothingman, @Sushubh, @Stumproot, @Travis, please take a look at:
http://blog.cloudantivirus.com/2009/07/21/known-issue-with-beta2-synchronous-background-scan/
Yes, there’s a shortcut from Recycle Bin. Simply use CONTROL-D to delete all the contents of the Recycle Bin. Also from the advanced view of the Recycle Bin you can completely delete item by item (first picture on the post above)
@lee yes we are aware of this and agree with you 100%. We will be redesigning some of the Recycle Bin features to deal with these issues.
Beta 2 has constantly given me very annoying pop-up notifications when it deletes a virus. And then it doesn’t do it. These Panda pop-ups (orange balls with white) sometimes prevent me from writing in a program and also destroy writing. This is the exact opposite of the “set it and forget it†formula Cloud was based on, it is totally frustrating, it should be fixed. Today there were dozens of pop-ups, so I rebooted and ran three scans. The Panda scan found 147 viruses after I had to suffer through the pop-ups. So the reason the pop-ups were there was to aggravate me? Guess what? It worked!
@eric it seems that your PC is heavily infested with malware. I recommend you run a full manual scan of the entire PC to get rid of all malware. After that Cloud Antivirus should run much more “silently”.
When new languages will be added (French in particular)? At Beta 3 or final launch?
@melina With Beta3 we’ll add 8 new languages. French is included in this list
Can a firewall, e.g. Zonelabs’, be used with Cloud Antivirus?
@edlo Yes, you can use any firewall alongside Panda Cloud Antivirus.
@melina actually I spoke too soon. We’ll include the 8 new languages in version 1.0, not in Beta3. This should be also before end of year.
Hi!!
First of all ur product is great…I recently started using it and its Awesome!!
My query is..
I read that cloud antivirus stores certain information in the local cache.
If that is the case will using certain cleaners such as the Ccleaner affect it?
@Hariharasudhan shouldn’t be affected at all.
I’m running the Beta, and the check box indicating “I want to enable automatic management…” remains unchecked each time I return to that display, even though I check it. Is this normal behavior, and is my computer protected? I am running Windows XP Home version. Thanks Gary.
Hi,
today I see that at the menu that appears when clicking on the Panda icon at the taskbar there’s no text on the first option.
I see:
(Empty black space, no description)
Solucionar problemas (0)…
EnvÃanos tus comentarios
Ayuda
Detener antivirus
When clicking at the first unnamed option it opens the Panda Cloud Antivirus main window (as always).
What a strange thing XD
Cheers!
I rebooted the computer and now it says “Panda Cloud Antivirus”. Seems everything is OK.
Any emailscanner in beta2?
Is there any way to delete all the infected files (not the suspicious) that Panda found, instead of doing it one by one?
@Alex Molina in the case of the Recycle Bin (suspicious & potentially unwanted) you can delete them all with the CONTROL-D shortcut. Regarding the rest of detections, that’s configured right now to 3 days after detection. We think this should provide enough time between detection and deletion for users to restore. This variable (3 days) right now we can configure from the CI server to anything differently. With version 1.1 we’ll add more advanced configuration where each user will be able to set to whatever they want.
Panda showed a window telling me that it detected that I’m connected to the Internet with Proxy and for a better performance I must fill some fields (proxy, port, user and password).
I’m not using Proxy, so why did this screen appeared? Is this a known issue?
Thanks for all your clarifications!
The same window by second time…
There’s the screenshot: http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/4733/proxym.png
I am a teacher in an elementary school and I have just been put in charge of the technology department…yikes. Most of our computers are running microsoft xp. I am looking for protection from viruses, malware, etc for the laptops. Will this provied enough safety for the school. These particular computers will be going home with students and faculty. I will have aproximately 40 laptops to protect.
Hi again! I’ve got a suggestion.
The only thing I don’t like from Panda Cloud Antivirus is that when you unblock a malware file you can’t ever detect that file again. It appears to be “clean” and Panda doesn’t say nothing.
Maybe would be useful do some little changes, for example:
- Displaying a exclamation mark over the file to indicate at a glance that this file is malware but it’s unblocked. See a paint-made reconstruction here: http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/5386/pandaexclamation.png
- When right-clicking an unblocked file, show the option of block it again or delete it.
- Maybe useful, not sure: Ask with a checkmark at the Configuration tab if Panda should alert the user if he’s trying to execute a unblocked file.
- If running an analysis Panda detects an unblocked file, it will show it at the “Not neutralized” tab.
What do you think? In my oppinion that’s the only missing feature to become a perfect antivirus!
Cheers
If this is a good av for our 40 netbooks, what version do I get? Can it be downloaded to a usb stick, or does it need to be downloaded at each standalone?
@Sandy
I would unofficially recommend that this program not be mass deployed yet, there are too many issues still being worked out. Try another free AV for now (Avast, AVG, and Avira are a few of my favorites).
Once 1.0 comes around, however, I can’t think of a more effective, nonintrusive antivirus. If I’m not mistaken, you could theoretically load the installer as it works now and install it, but 1.0 may introduce a product key system, making that hard to pull off. Maybe a quick way to get a bunch of keys for large deployments will be introduced.
@Sam Smoker
@me, load it onto a usb drive, that is
Thanks Sam,
Anyone have any idea when 1.0 will be introduced and if it will continue to be free?
@Sandy
We know that it will be free, and Pedro has hinted that it will be this year, if I remember correctly.
@Alex Molina thanks for the suggestions Alex. The fact is that the unblocking/undelete functionalities are not 100%. With v1.0 we will introduce some GUI improvements for managing detected files and with v1.1 we will introduce advanced configuration as well.
@Sandy While I agree to some extent with Sam, detection-wise the product is getting the highest ratings we’re seeing from different AVs (free and for paid), so if you are familiar enough with how the product functions (for example the initial BackgroundScan) and its existing workarounds then I would deploy it to multiple machines (gradually of course). Here’s some links that would be required reading before doing so:
http://blog.cloudantivirus.com/2009/07/21/known-issue-with-beta2-synchronous-background-scan/
http://blog.cloudantivirus.com/2009/07/22/cloudav-standalone-uninstaller/
http://blog.cloudantivirus.com/2009/07/27/error-code-1-catching-exceptions-and-creating-minidumps/
@Sam Smoker As a matter of fact v1.0 will be released this year. Regarding the activation/key method, we will not use license keys and simply use validated free web accounts (similar to how Spotify works). The plan is to release a new website at the time of v1.0 where we can release more free services such as tracking community infections, statistical data, support forums, etc.
I use Google Chrome and I went onto this website:
hxxp://fluffykittens.xxxx.org/ (EDIT for safety)
Chrome showed me infinite pop-ups telling me if I would the web interact with a lot of applications. My computer hanged and I was forced to restart.
When restarting the computer everything seemed to be okay, so I opened that webpage onto the notepad and I saved it as a html file onto my desktop.
THEN my Panda Cloud Antivirus flagged it as JS/Popupper.A .
Why did the av let me watch this website? I can also see the EICAR Test File like a website here: http://www.eicar.org/download/eicar.com.txt
Will it be improved browsing protection at 1.0 version?
And what does the webpage I entered do? Is it really worrying or simply annoying?
Thank you so much!
Ooops: Error from “Psunscan” every 5 seconds when doing an On-Demand scan from a folder with lots of malware samples:
“Access violation at address 30098B5A in module ‘PSNCIPC.dll’. Read of address 00013FD6.”
Screenshot: http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/3408/errorpcloud.png
The error is shown every 5 secons and when clicking the buttons pause/resume and stop. It stopped when I closed the scan window.
Windows XP Home Edition SP3 updated, with the following apps opened:
- Microsoft Word 2007
- Windows Live Messenger 2009
- CanoScan Toolbox 4.1
And at the system tray:
- Toshiba Bluetooth Stack (Bluetooth disabled)
- Windows Live Mail
- Dispositivo señalador de Synaptics (Synaptics Pointing Device)
@Alex Molina Thanks for reporting Alex. We’ll contact you via email to gather more info if necessary.