DIGITAL ANTS TO PROTECT YOUR SYSTEM

Digital ants are an application of Swarm Intelligence. Using SI, these digital ants adapt to the variations of viruses that hackers routinely introduce. When one ant detects a threat, he is soon joined by many others to overwhelm their opponent. The “digital ants” will wander through computer networks looking for invaders. When an ant detects one, it calls for an army of reinforcements to join the fight.
This is critical since security programs gobble up more resources, and antivirus scans take longer and machines run slower when anti-virus packages discover new threats and issue updates. Researchers believe the new ant-based system will run faster than conventional security programs which have to be updated constantly to recognize new infections.
Digital ants cannot survive without software “sentinels” located at each machine, which in turn report to network “sergeants” monitored by humans, who supervise the colony and maintain ultimate control.”They can ramp up their defence rapidly, and then resume routine behaviour quickly after an intruder has been stopped. We were trying to achieve that same framework in a computer system.”
“As they move about the network, they leave digital trails modelled after the scent trails ants in nature use to guide other ants.
“Each time a digital ant identifies some evidence, it is programmed to leave behind a stronger scent. Stronger scent trails attract more ants, producing the swarm that marks a potential computer infection.”
The new security approach is best suited for large networks that share many identical machines, such as those found in governments, large corporations and universities.

