AVAR-paper-2013.pdf

**Executive summary:** This paper argues that while static signature-based anti-virus is no longer sufficient, anti-malware as a discipline remains important and has evolved toward heuristics, behavior analysis, reputation, sandboxing and remediation; it critiques misleading pseudo-testing (notably misuse of VirusTotal and small sample TtU studies), discusses free vs. commercial AV, the limits of AV against targeted/low-prevalence threats and mobile platforms, and concludes that layered defenses including modern anti-malware are still valuable.