Antivirus
Computer viruses are small software programs or code that replicates itself and spreads from one computer to another to interfere with computer operation. During the early days of the Internet, most viruses simply deleted files from the computer or did some sort of damage to the operating. Today, most malware is created to steal information, such as passwords, credit card numbers and banking information. It may even erase everything on hard disk.
The most common ways malware spreads itself to other network devices is by attachments in email messages and instant messaging messages. It may also exploit un-patched security holes in operating systems to infect computers without any user intervention at all. Computer can be hidden in illicit software or other files or programs one might download from the Internet.
Antivirus software is a program specifically designed to protect computers from all kind of viruses harmful to a computer system. It also gives protection against malicious software that includes viruses, keyloggers, hijackers, and Trojan. This utility scans hard disk drives for malware and fixes or quarantines threats found. The antivirus software can attempt to delete, quarantine, or trigger an alert when it detects files that are harmful. Additionally, many antivirus software suites also have settings that can prevent computer from downloading or executing harmful files in the first place.
Antivirus software can detect malware in two ways: signature-based detection or heuristic-based detection. Each has their own advantage and disadvantage.
Malware can be detected by observing known patterns. Malware patterns are defined in signature files or data definition files. In signature-based detection, antivirus software scans each file individually and looking for malware that is similar based upon a computed checksum hash on individual samples. Depending on how the settings are configured, antivirus software will delete or quarantine the malware when it detects a signature match. Viruses that are quarantined cannot harm computer while they remain quarantined. While this technique works efficiently, the signature files may not be up-to-date with the number of new variants coming out every single day.
Heuristic-based detection has the capability of proactively detecting malware that was previously unknown. It performs dynamic scanning of suspicious infected files’ characteristics and behavior to determine if it is indeed malware. In addition, some heuristic analysis may decompile the malware by reverse-engineering the infected program and reading the malware’s source code. However, this type of protection has its disadvantages too. Heuristic scans and analysis can take a long time to complete, which may slow-down system performance. Also, heuristic scans may produce false positives. False positives are when the antivirus software determines a file is malicious (and quarantines or deletes it) when in reality it is perfectly fine and/or desired.
Even though antivirus software provides protection from malicious files, it is not foolproof. While the products available do an excellent job of detecting known viruses, new virus is being introduced almost every day. Clearing up after virus infection can be a lengthy and expensive experience. As such, antivirus signature files must be kept up-to-date in order to protect computers from the most current malware threats. It is essential to configure antivirus software to automatically download and install the latest signature files when they become available.
The most common ways malware spreads itself to other network devices is by attachments in email messages and instant messaging messages. It may also exploit un-patched security holes in operating systems to infect computers without any user intervention at all. Computer can be hidden in illicit software or other files or programs one might download from the Internet.
Antivirus software is a program specifically designed to protect computers from all kind of viruses harmful to a computer system. It also gives protection against malicious software that includes viruses, keyloggers, hijackers, and Trojan. This utility scans hard disk drives for malware and fixes or quarantines threats found. The antivirus software can attempt to delete, quarantine, or trigger an alert when it detects files that are harmful. Additionally, many antivirus software suites also have settings that can prevent computer from downloading or executing harmful files in the first place.
Antivirus software can detect malware in two ways: signature-based detection or heuristic-based detection. Each has their own advantage and disadvantage.
Malware can be detected by observing known patterns. Malware patterns are defined in signature files or data definition files. In signature-based detection, antivirus software scans each file individually and looking for malware that is similar based upon a computed checksum hash on individual samples. Depending on how the settings are configured, antivirus software will delete or quarantine the malware when it detects a signature match. Viruses that are quarantined cannot harm computer while they remain quarantined. While this technique works efficiently, the signature files may not be up-to-date with the number of new variants coming out every single day.
Heuristic-based detection has the capability of proactively detecting malware that was previously unknown. It performs dynamic scanning of suspicious infected files’ characteristics and behavior to determine if it is indeed malware. In addition, some heuristic analysis may decompile the malware by reverse-engineering the infected program and reading the malware’s source code. However, this type of protection has its disadvantages too. Heuristic scans and analysis can take a long time to complete, which may slow-down system performance. Also, heuristic scans may produce false positives. False positives are when the antivirus software determines a file is malicious (and quarantines or deletes it) when in reality it is perfectly fine and/or desired.
Even though antivirus software provides protection from malicious files, it is not foolproof. While the products available do an excellent job of detecting known viruses, new virus is being introduced almost every day. Clearing up after virus infection can be a lengthy and expensive experience. As such, antivirus signature files must be kept up-to-date in order to protect computers from the most current malware threats. It is essential to configure antivirus software to automatically download and install the latest signature files when they become available.
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