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Sophos Anti-Virus: Sophos Behavioral Genotype Protection

Sophos Behavioral Genotype Protection is a Host Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS) that monitors code on a computer, and blocks any that would behave maliciously before it is executed. Unlike other runtime HIPS, which monitor running code and intervene once they believe suspicious behavior has occurred, Sophos Behavioral Genotype Protection identifies and blocks malicious programs before execution.

Sophos Behavioral Genotype Protection is now part of the Sophos anti-virus engine. It enables Sophos Anti-Virus, Sophos PureMessage, Sophos Email Appliances and third-party SAV Interface applications to detect and block unknown malware without waiting for specific detection to be available. The rules used by Behavioral Genotype technology are tested so as to ensure that the risk of false positives is negligible.

Behavioral Genotype identities are prefixed 'Mal/'.

If a Sophos product detects an item with the 'Mal/' prefix, send us a sample of the file concerned. This will enable us to make a more complete identification, and provide you with further information.

From late September 2006, Sophos Behavioral Genotype Protection will be an integral part of all versions of the following software that incorporate threat detection engine version 2.38 or later, and threat data version 4.10

Existing customers will be automatically updated. New customers can download evaluation software.

If you need more information or guidance, then please contact technical support.