Anti-Virus software is often damned for slowing down PCs, despite its indispensability. But that might change with a new technique to combat viruses. Professor Avishai Wool and Ohad Ben-Cohen of Tel Aviv University have developed a new software solution called “Korset” that modifies the OS’ kernel to monitor the machine’s operational pattern.

If any internal software veers away from the normal pattern of operation, the Kernel almost freezes the system to scrutinize the cause of that anomaly. The effectiveness of this technique appears to completely rest on its ability to identify normal operational patterns. Although it is being touted as an alternative to anti-virus software, it is difficult to say at this stage whether it can actually replace anti-virus software. Anyways, an open-source application based on this method is now available for Linux.