Anil Kondla
Last Updated on July 14, 2024 by Team Experts
When you hear the term “Antivirus”, you may think about it as the special utility that can keep your device safeguarded from being hacked. While this is completely true, it is a simplistic definition. To know more about the Antivirus, how it works and more, keep reading this article!
What Is Antivirus Software?
An ideal Antivirus software is the one that provides users with top-notch protection against multiple kinds of threats, including viruses, malware, spyware, adware, trojan horse, rootkits, worms, ransomware, and other malicious content. If you don’t run a good antivirus software on your devices, there are high chances that you might encounter the following issues on your device:
- Sluggish and slow device.
- Frequent device crashes.
- Data loss.
- Accumulation of damaged files.
- You might get spied on via webcam.
- Your personal accounts may get monitored.
- You may get bombarded with unwanted ads & pop-up banners.
- Inability to perform different kinds of tasks on your device or the Internet.
In a nutshell, an antivirus program holds the potential to safeguard your device against both online/offline threats and attacks that mean to damage your device.
How Does Antivirus Software Work?
Usually, Antivirus program works on either of the principles:
- Comprehensively scans programs & files as soon as they enter your device and compares them with potential viruses.
- Scans your entire device for existing programs and files to detect any suspicious behaviour.
- Additionally, ideal antivirus software promotes features that can help users to completely eliminate or quarantine the harmful traces.
In both scenarios, the security software uses a conventional method that looks for signatures to detect new malware. It matches the detected threats with their in-built extensive database of already known viruses and malware that teaches the utility about how to detect, flag and eliminate malicious content. Apart from this, antivirus programs can use the following virus detection methods that help users to protect their device. These include:
- Heuristic-based detection: In this form of detection, the utility uses an algorithm to compare the signature of viruses against a potential threat. Antivirus software that uses this type of detection method, can certainly identify viruses that have not been discovered yet. Hence, the perk is that it can easily find new viruses but the downside is, it can also generate false positive results. Means, it may indicate an uninfected file or program as infected one.
- Behaviour-based detection: This form of detection works very well, when it comes to detecting the type of malware that attempts to steal your personal information. Antiviruses equipped with this type of method strictly observes the behaviour of programs and files stored on your computer and if found problems, shows the warning like below:
- Settings of the programs are changed.
- Some files are modified or deleted.
- Remote connection is established.
- Sandbox Detection: In this form of virus detection method, the antivirus software runs all the programs in a dedicated virtual environment and closely monitors and records its action to further identify whether those programs are malicious or not. Once it observes that the program is safe to run, it executes it in the real environment.
- Data Mining Detection: Well, this virus detection method is advanced enough to detect the latest trends in malware and other threats.
Besides these virus detection methods, the Antivirus Software offers multiple kinds of scanning methods to safeguard your device. This includes:
- On-Demand Scan
- Real-Time Protection
- Other Advanced Scans
Some of the protection utilities will ask for your permission before removing the suspicious files. While, some provide a hands-on approach to alter the settings, so that antivirus tools can automate the entire process of eliminating harmful files.
So, Which Is The Best Antivirus Software In The Market For My Windows PC?
Considering all the aforementioned risks and the type of protection an antivirus software provides, we recommend our users to try and install Systweak Antivirus for their Windows system. The application features top-of-the-line defence against all types of online and offline threats and gives your PC all-round protection. The tool offers three different scanning modes: Quick Scan, Deep Scan and Custom Scan that quickly and comprehensively scan every nook and cranny of your computer and even particular drive or folder, respectively.
Additional Ways To Protect Your Device:
While running the Antivirus Software is one of the most important aspects to safeguard your device, there are other methods as well that can keep your device fully protected.
- Keep your device OS, apps and browser up-to-date.
- Practice good digital hygiene.
- Avoid clicking on suspicious links and websites.
- Use complex and unique passwords.
- Backup your device.
- Consider using two-factor authentication.
Combining security tools with the best prevention techniques can certainly help you protect your device from potential threats and unauthorized access. Do share your personal recommendations in the category of Best Antivirus Tools for 2022 in the comments section below.
