ENGINEERS from QinetiQ’s security lab in Malvern have patented a novel way of disabling new computer viruses.

Simon Wiseman and Richard Oak believe they have got around the problem of new viruses being immune to existing anti-virus software. Their idea is to intercept every file that could possibly hide a virus and add a computer code to it that will disable any virus it contains.

Mr Wiseman said: “This is not based on virus signature detection, so it is not something malware writers can imagine their way around."