More recent updates made some sites recover while others still would not return to their previous rankings. The core problem with Panda was that Google did not release a definition of quality. And if you ask one hundred Internet users about their definition of a quality website, you will likely get one hundred different answers.

Google first rolled out Panda to websites in the United States, and there only to English sites and queries. A later update launched Panda for all English speaking websites regardless of their location in the world. Today’s announcement at the Google Webmaster Central Blog marks the next step of the “high-quality sites algorithm” as Google likes to call it. Panda is now used on non-English versions of Google Search as well, with the exception of the Chinese, Japanese and Korean language versions.

According to the information posted, Panda will affect between 6 to 9 per cent of all queries “to a degree that a user might notice”. That’s lower than the initial 12% of affected sites of English queries, but still a considerable amount.

With Panda out in the open almost everywhere: What is your personal impression of Google’s search engine quality as of late? Has Panda improved the results significantly by pushing down lower quality sites? Or did you experience a decrease a value, something that might even have made you use another search engine?

Let me know in the comments.

Cloud Antivirus uses a so called thin-client architecture offering several advantages over conventional antivirus solutions. Only the core files are installed on the system and local detection technologies are combined with cloud-based scanning to reduce PC resource usage.

One of the main pillars of Panda Cloud Antivirus is its real-time use of Panda Collective Intelligence, which is an online from-the-cloud system that automates the entire malware protection cycle; collecting new samples, analyzing, categorizing, creating detection and disinfection routines and delivering the protection to each node.

Thanks to this approach users do not need to worry about updating signature files anymore. In fact, detection of millions and millions of different malware variants is no longer limited by the size of a signature database, as Collective Intelligence can hold literally unlimited number of detections without consuming any memory on the users’ PC.

The interface of Panda Cloud Antivirus is best described as minimalistic which is a welcome change to the often overladen interfaces of comparable antivirus solutions.

The cloud based approach takes much of the usual updating process out of the user’s hand. The virus definitions are updated in the cloud taking that off the user’s back. When Panda Cloud Antivirus is started it will always make use of the latest definitions and data providing an Internet connection is available.

The antivirus software displays the status screen on startup which gives the user information about security problems if found on the PC. The button bar at the top leads to the scan menu, report window and recycle bin which contains previously neutralized files.

The only other option is the settings button at the lower left corner which leads to connection settings, autorun and USB vaccination and advanced settings for expert users.

It is possible to scan the whole system, an optimized scan that only looks at core files of the operating system and a custom scan that scans a specified local directory or drive of the computer.

Panda Cloud Antivirus runs in the background all the time protecting the PC with behavioral analysis. Files that are currently analyzed in the cloud are automatically blocked on the system for a maximum of 30 seconds. That’s ample time to receive the information from the cloud. The advanced settings offer to change that limit and other settings.

It is here for instance possible to add file exclusions which are then ignored by the antivirus software. Other options include the generation of an advanced log and disabling behavioral analysis and blocking.

Panda Cloud Antivirus Pro disables autorun on the computer by default which some users may want to change. The setting is available in the options. The same menu holds the option to automatically vaccinate USB drives which protects them when they are connected to other PCs and computers.

Interested users can download Panda Cloud Antivirus from the official website. Panda Security gave us 29 keys (30 actually but I used one) and we would like to give them to you in this giveaway. If you want one leave a comment below. Make sure you add an existing email address as it will be used to contact you if you have won a license in the draw.

But resource efficiency is only one benefit of cloud based antivirus solutions. Panda Cloud Antivirus uses a technology that Panda calls Collective Intelligence which collects and processes malware samples in the cloud to generate updates and signatures against threats.

Today Panda announced the availability of Panda Cloud Antivirus Pro which will be offered next to the free edition. Both the free and pro version have been updated with new features:

New functionality in Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition includes:

* Advanced configuration and exclusions allow users to customize certain features, such as behavioral blocking and analysis, to suit their individual needs and system requirements.
* Behavioral blocker provides instantaneous protection against new malware and targeted attacks.
* Self-protection of antivirus files and configurations ensures protection can’t be disabled by targeted malware attacks.

Additional features in Cloud Antivirus Pro Edition include:

* Automatic, transparent upgrades provide completely “hands-free” protection by eliminating the need for reinstalling the antivirus each time a new version is released.
* Automatic vaccination of USB and hard drives ensures neither drive type can transmit an infection while users are offline.
* Dynamic behavioral analysis provides an added layer of protection by analyzing running processes and blocking any found to be malicious.
* 24/7 multilingual technical support online.

Panda Cloud Antivirus Free users get the new behavioral blocking feature which is a “proactive, signature-less, protection against malicious actions typically used by malware which for instance includes generic blocking of malicious pdf, doc, xls and ppt droppers. Additional configuration options have been added to the free version as well to tweak settings and features such as advanced logging, recycle bin settings and exclusions.

It is now also possible to run Cloud Antivirus next to other antivirus solutions which is great for testing and for increased security. The small additional footprint of the cloud based solution makes this option feasible.

The pro version gets on top of that USB vaccination and behavioral analysis of running processes. Both the pro and free edition of Panda Cloud Antivirus are available at the official homepage of the security software. The software is now available in 20 different languages (plus nine in this release) and compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system.

Bandwidth could be an issue but it is in fact not. Why? Because files do not necessarily have to be uploaded to the cloud if they are already known. And new files usually are known pretty quickly thanks to the millions of users that use Panda Cloud Antivirus. Privacy is ensured by scanning some file types locally including Word and Excel documents.

And version 1.0 introduces additional improvements over the beta versions and conventional antivirus software.

Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.0 introduces further improvement to its 100% cloud-based architecture protection model, which processes and blocks malware more efficiently than locally installed signature-based products, while minimizing the impact on PC performance. The 1.0 version boasts both improved bandwidth and performance impact over its already lightweight beta version. Traditional antivirus solutions consume approximately 15% of a PC’s resources (memory, disk space, etc.) while Cloud Antivirus 1.0 consumes a mere 3%.

Users who are interested in trying out Panda Cloud Antivirus can download it for free at the Cloud Antivirus website where it is available for most Microsoft Windows operating systems. Panda Cloud Antivirus was recently rated best free antivirus software at blocking known malware over at PC World.

• Anti-malware Protection (including personal firewall, antivirus protection, wifi monitor, instant messaging protection and proactive protection)
• Identity Theft Protection (anti-phishing, anti-banking trojan engine and anti-rootkit technology)
• Safe Internet Browsing (anti-spam filter, parental control features, web filter and information filter)
• PC Backup including 2 Gigabytes of online backup storage

October 22, 2009 is the magical 24 hour period when ordinarily pricey things turn into free things. Well, Panda Security is now compatible with Windows 7, so why not pair the two? Register on this glorious day for ONE FREE YEAR of Panda Security’s anti-virus protection. Prevent viruses, malware, Trojans, worms, identity theft, online banking and other threats from infecting your PC. Internet Security is ultra light-weight because it’s using “cloud” technology so it won’t hinder your computer from operating as freely as it can. Because the only free thing we can think of that isn’t good is a computer virus.

Users who want the free license for Panda Internet Security 2010 need to visit the promotion website on October 22 (the countdown on the page is showing that the offer starts in 8 hours and 44 minutes from the time of posting this article).

Registration on the page is mandatory on October 22 to receive the activation code per email. A download link is already visible but not yet activated. The promotion website can be accessed by following this link. An overview of Panda Internet Security 2010 is available at the Panda Security website.

The following links point to antivirus software programs that can be downloaded as trial versions. These trial versions can be used for either 30 days or 90 days without payment.

Which antivirus software developers are offering 90 day trials?

• McAfee VirusScan Plus [link]
• McAfee Internet Security [link]
• McAfee Total Protection [link]
• Norton Antivirus [link]
• Norton 360 [link]

Which antivirus software developers are offering 30 day trials?

• Kaspersky Antivirus [link]
• Kaspersky Internet Security [link]
• Bitdefender Antivirus [link]
• Bitdefender Total Security [link]
• Bitdefender Internet Security [link]
• ESET Smart Security [link]
• ESET Nod32 Antivirus [link]
• Trend Micro Internet Security Pro [link]
• Trend Micro Internet Security [link]
• Panda Security Antivirus [link]
• Panda Antivirus Pro [link]
• F-Secure Internet Security [link]
• F-Secure Antivirus [link]

Please let us know in the comments if we have missed a product.

Some notes: This article does not rate the antivirus software programs. There might be free programs out there that are comparable to the listed antivirus products. The only problem with this method is that users need to install different antivirus software regularly. This not only means more work for the user but also the requirement to get used to new software products.

Many antivirus companies are running promotions every now and then that offer longer trial versions for download. This will obviously help tremendously.

Any thoughts or ideas?

While a resource reduction and automatic updates might appeal to many users it should be noted that an Internet connection is required to make use of the cloud antivirus service. Users without an Internet connection will not be able to test programs and files on their local computer system for malicious code. This can be problematic even for broadband users who are usually online 24/7 if the Internet connection dies because of technical problems.

The real question therefor is if users want to (or can) rely solely on the cloud antivirus concept. The answer should be in most cases “no”. What good is an antivirus software that might stop working during usage because of a dead network card or Internet provider network difficulties.

Would you rely on a cloud antivirus solution?

Update:

Panda Cloud Antivirus stores the signatures and detection information in a local cache as well which means that the computer system is protected even if no Internet connection is available. (thanks Rain for clarifying this)

So called anti virus removal tools have been created to effectively remove traces of anti virus software from the computer system. They usually run a series of processes that delete files, Registry settings and other parameters or options that have been installed by the antivirus software during installation.

Below is a collection of anti virus software removal tools that have been created by the developers of the programs to aid their users if they encounter difficulties uninstalling it.

• AntiVir Registry Cleaner
• Avast Removal Tool
• AVG Remover
• Bitdefender Uninstallation Tool
• F-Secure Uninstallation Tool
• Kaspersky Removal Tool
• McAfee Consumer Products Removal
• Microsoft One Care Uninstall Cleanup Tool
• Norton Removal Tool
• Panda Anti Virus 2008 Uninstaller
• Symantec Corporate Products Clean Up Tool

Did we miss antivirus software uninstallation tools in the list? Let us know in the comments.