Panda Cloud Antivirus Review! Cloud Protection Is Here!

Are you looking for an antivirus that works right out of the box, works unobtrusively in the background, does not use much in terms of system resources, does not need to be updated anytime, in short does not need any sort of maintenance and yet works very well. Panda Security’s Cloud Antivirus meets all of these criteria and then some more. To begin with Panda Cloud Antivirus does to antivirus and malware scanners what Google Chrome OS and others of its ilk (Good OS, VMware Cloud OS, eyeOS, etc.) do to standard operating systems. It takes the malware and antivirus scanners to the cloud for better security, better response time, easy operability and a host of other good features. In case you are wondering how a cloud antivirus differs from a traditional antivirus, please check out the video below.

Back from the video? Well even as everything looks so perfect and easy in the video, how does it actually perform? Moving the services and updates to the cloud from a dedicated hosting server has its advantages in terms of reduced response time and in reaching the users every time a new update is pushed through. It is also advantageous to the end user where the cloud “Collective Intelligence” in the case of Panda Security hosts most of the database in terms of signatures and updates and keeps these to a minimum at the end user level.

Installation is a breeze though the installation file itself is 22 MB (compared to Prevx 1 MB) and the installation folder took about 140 MB (Prevx again a meager 6 MB) which does seem a bit odd considering it is cloud computing. Panda’s Cloud Antivirus does conflict with other antivirus scanners and I did have to uninstall my Avira and Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus scanners, but it did not have conflicting issues with other security software like firewall (Comodo) and HIPS (ThreatFire). Once installed you will find the home screen with a huge “Status OK” should things go well which means Panda Cloud Antivirus is up and running. The configuration is easy and to the point and no meaningless options and submenus and definitely no obstacle course. You will need to register for a Panda account and you can choose to be a part of the data collection process where suspicious activity from your PC will be sent to Panda for further investigation should you choose that option.

The rest of the options on Panda Cloud Antivirus are Settings, Scan, and Report in addition to the default Status OK screen. Again not much to do in any of these options. Settings will let you choose to be a part of the data collection or not and also let you specify a proxy if that’s the way your PC connects to the internet. Scan has two modes, Quick Scan will scan all the usual suspects and Scan Other Items… will let you specify a folder or drive. Scanning can also be triggered from Windows Explorer with right clicking and selecting Scan with Panda Cloud Antivirus. The Report tab will list all the relevant information in terms of Viruses, Worms, Trojans, Spyware, Adware, Dialers, Jokes, and Other malware stopped by Panda Cloud Antivirus. Finally at the bottom right hand side of the screen you will also see a Recycle Bin icon which will bring up the files blocked or isolated for suspicious activity and should you choose you can unblock any file from here but please do verify its authenticity before going ahead. This option might also work to a disadvantage in the hands of inexperienced users but it is still there.

The performance in terms of usage is very good. Panda Cloud Antivirus is unobtrusive and hardly makes any demand on the system resources and will pretty much work in the background most of the time. Even running a scan is pretty fast but the first initial scans will take more time than the subsequent ones as can be expected from cloud protection. Once files are found to be safe subsequent scans will end up taking even less time as the cache and data specific to your system is built up. In terms of performance relative to system resources alone Panda Cloud Antivirus warrants a place on most old systems but when you take into account that PC World “recognized Panda Cloud Antivirus as the best free antivirus in detecting malware” and PC Magazine “has reviewed Panda Cloud Antivirus and stamped it’s renowned Editor’s Choice” on it, it is all set to be a part of your PC’s security arsenal.

Panda Security’s Cloud Antivirus is not the first of its kind, but it is definitely the first that is mainstream and free. Prevx started the concept of cloud malware detection and protection and I will be reviewing that shortly so stay tuned.

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