Antivirus Software

Some software is designed specifically to be an annoyance and even inflict damage on your computer. Harmful software is called malware, and viruses are the oldest and most notorious malware. Created to activate under certain circumstances, a virus is a self-replicating program capable of causing significant damage to a host computer. They are a serious problem. Every year, businesses lose billions of dollars and viruses wipe out precious data for millions of Americans. Antivirus software is specifically designed to detect and neutralize viruses. How effective it is depends on the quality of the antivirus software and the user’s attitude and behavior regarding computer safety.

Antivirus Software

There are several hallmarks of good antivirus software. Virus developers constantly create new strains. To stay ahead, antivirus software stores the signatures (code) for each known virus in a library. When you buy antivirus software, you are buying access to this library and various tools to put that information to work. How frequently the software stocks your library with new definitions and their cures helps determine the quality of the software.

Any good antivirus software has the means to seek out and neutralize viruses. When you run computer applications, download and install software, or open email attachments, you are exposing your computer to potential viral infection. Except on those occasions when it must be disabled, your antivirus shield should run constantly in the background. Beyond the antivirus software’s real-time scanning capability, you should also be able to scan all computer systems on demand.

Many new viruses lack any characteristics within the definitions library. That’s where heuristic virus detection comes in. All viruses share certain characteristics and behaviors. Heuristic detection watches for these elements. If a program displays these traits, the antivirus software will perform protective measures. It may alert you to take some kind of action, or it might quarantine or even disinfect the program without an alert. Sometimes software targeted by a virus is emulated during a search for any indications of a virus, which is called sandbox technology. A downside to heuristic detection is that sometimes perfectly legitimate and safe software is treated by antivirus software as possibly infected. This can cause you a world of problems.

Think Safety

Viruses are so effective in part because of some users' lax attitude toward computer security. Some people try to operate their computers without any virus protection at all, use an inferior product or use good antivirus software improperly. There are more than 50 free antivirus software applications and dozens more paid antivirus software applications that you can download or purchase. The risk of not running some kind of protection on your computer is huge. However, good antivirus protection shouldn’t rely on software alone. It takes a certain level of common sense and vigilance to defend against viruses. Opening email attachments, downloading infected software and files, and viewing certain virus-rich websites are all ways to open portals to your computer that viruses can travel through to infect your hard drive. You even have to be careful about which antivirus software you download. Some Trojan malware is disguised as antivirus software and is capable of uploading a nightmare onto your machine.

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