ClamAV
Open-source antivirus software
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Key Takeaways
- ClamAV ( Clam AntiVirus ) is a free software, cross-platform antimalware toolkit able to detect many types of malware, including viruses.
- As of version 0.
- Both ClamAV and its updates are made available free of charge.
- History ClamAV was initially released with version 0.
- In 2007, it was acquired by Sourcefire, which in turn was acquired by Cisco in 2013 and now operates under its Talos cybersecurity division.
ClamAV (Clam AntiVirus) is a free software, cross-platform antimalware toolkit able to detect many types of malware, including viruses. It was developed for Unix and has third party versions available for AIX, BSD, HP-UX, Linux, macOS, OpenVMS, OSF (Tru64), Solaris and Haiku. As of version 0.97.5, ClamAV builds and runs on Microsoft Windows. Both ClamAV and its updates are made available free of charge. One of its main uses is on mail servers as a server-side email virus scanner.
History
ClamAV was initially released with version 0.10 on 8 May 2002, by Polish university student Tomasz Kojm. In 2007, it was acquired by Sourcefire, which in turn was acquired by Cisco in 2013 and now operates under its Talos cybersecurity division.
Patent lawsuit
In 2008, Barracuda Networks was sued by Trend Micro for its distribution of ClamAV as part of a security package. Trend Micro claimed that Barracuda's utilization of ClamAV infringes on a software patent for filtering viruses on an Internet gateway. The free software community responded in part by calling for a boycott against Trend Micro. The boycott was also endorsed by the Free Software Foundation. Barracuda Networks counter-sued with IBM-obtained patents in July 2008. On 19 May 2011, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a Final Rejection (a determination by the patent examiner that the claims in a patent application are unpatentable, which is followed by the closure of the application) in the reexamination of Trend Micro's U.S. patent 5623600.
Features
ClamAV includes a command-line scanner, automatic database updater, and a scalable multi-threaded daemon running on an anti-virus engine from a shared library. The application features a Milter interface for sent mail and on-demand scanning. It recognizes:
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