The Antigen Worm list is not updated as frequently as the antivirus scan engines in Antigen

This article describes why the Antigen Worm list is not updated as frequently as the antivirus scan engines are updated.

The definitions in the Antigen Worm list differ from the definitions that are used by the antivirus scan engines. The Antigen Worm list includes generic worm name entries. These entries may help provide protection against future worms that are part of a worm family that has already been detected.

For example, if a new worm that is called "Win32/abcdef.A@mm" is detected, Antigen updates the Antigen Worm list to include a generic entry such as "*abcdef*". This entry covers any new variant of the same virus, such as Win32/abcdef.M@mm. Because the Antigen Worm list contains generic worm name entries, the Antigen Worm list does not have to be updated as frequently as the antivirus scan engines are updated.