Details are emerging that the cyber attack against The New York Times easily circumvented conventional anti-virus defences. Out of the 45 pieces of malware deployed to harvest the usernames and passwords of New York Times reporters, 44 evaded anti-virus protection. Only one was identified by the security software. CNN concludes that “your antivirus software probably won’t prevent a cyber attack”.

In response, Symantec has made a statement that “antivirus software alone is not enough”.

This latest news follows a recent study concluding that conventional AV software now protects less than 5% of new malware.

A proactive anti-key logging data security solution would have secured the reporters usernames and passwords from key loggers, regardless of the malware lurking in the system.