Heuristic

The adjective heuristic describes a way of resolving an issue by discovering or experimenting, rather than following prescribed instructions, formulas, or procedures. For example, an antivirus program may use heuristic detection to help identify an unknown virus or malware. The word heuristic may also be used as a noun, in reference to a heuristic method. For instance, "the antivirus program uses an innovative heuristic to identify new viruses."

Polymorphic virus, Security terms