Antivirus Software & Its Types

 

Antivirus Software & Its Types

Antivirus Software

Computer viruses share many similarities with real-life viruses, which is how they got their name. But while the flu season usually starts in late fall and ends in February, the computer virus season is in full swing all year round. To protect your body from viruses, you only need to get vaccinated once a year, ahead of the flu season. On the other hand, to keep your computer and your files safe from viruses and other threats, you need to use antivirus software that will provide full protection at any given time.

Key takeaway: Antivirus software detects and removes viruses on computers and networks. Modern-day antivirus software protects your devices against malware without affecting their speed and performance. Read on to learn about the three main types of antivirus software and find out which are the five best antivirus programs.

What is Antivirus Software?

As the name suggests, antivirus software is an application or a suite of programs that finds and removes viruses on computers and networks. In addition to viruses, most of today’s antivirus programs are also capable of detecting and removing other types of malicious software, including worms, Trojans, adware, spyware, ransomware, browser hijackers, Keyloggers, and rootkits. Besides being able to identify and remove these threats, the best antivirus software can also prevent them from infecting your system.

When you run a virus scan, your antivirus software program will scan your hard drive and all currently connected external storage devices for potential threats. The program will inspect each individual file and simultaneously look up the findings in its database of known viruses to detect a possible threat. If it does, depending on the severity of the threat, it will either delete, quarantine, or repair the infected file. The program will also monitor the behavior of all the software on your computer and look for any red flags.

Whereas once you had to run antivirus scans manually, most of today’s antivirus programs allow you to enable automatic scans and set up a scan schedule that best works for you. As a rule, it is recommended to run an automatic scan once a week. Additionally, you can also run manual scans of your computer, as well as specific files and directories. Antivirus software scans are designed as background processes, which mean that they shouldn’t use up too much of your computational resources or slow down your computer.

Since computer viruses are a constant threat across all platforms, today’s antivirus software is designed to provide protection on all operating systems and all internet-connected devices. This includes desktop and laptop computers running Microsoft Windows and macOS, as well as smartphones running iOS and Android. Statistics show that more than 360,000 new pieces of malware are released daily. For maximum protection, the best antivirus software will also automatically update virus definitions at least once a day.

What Types of Antivirus Software Exist?

All antivirus programs can be organized into the following three categories:

1.    Standalone Antivirus Software

Standalone antivirus software is a specialized tool designed to detect and remove certain viruses. It is commonly referred to as portable antivirus software because it can also be installed on a USB drive and used by administrators to run an emergency scan of an infected system. However, most portable programs aren’t designed to provide real-time protection and download new virus definitions daily, which is why they cannot substitute internet security suites that include a variety of additional features.

2.    Security Software Suites

As mentioned above, security software suites are more than just antivirus programs. In addition to being able to detect and remove viruses, they are also equipped to fight all other types of malicious software and provide round-the-clock protection for your computer and files. Most of these program packages include anti-spyware, firewall, and parental controls features. Some also include additional functionality like password managers, a VPN, and even a standalone antivirus program bundled with the suite.

3.    Cloud-Based Antivirus Software

Cloud-based antivirus software is a fairly new type of antivirus software technology that analyzes your files in the cloud rather than your computer in order to free up your computational resources and allow for a faster response. These programs typically consist of two parts – the client that is installed on your computer and runs periodic virus and malware scans without taking up too much memory and the web service that processes the data gathered by the client and inspects it for matches in its virus and malware database.