Antivirus software is designed to prevent, detect, and remove malware infections from computers, networks, and IT systems. In addition to detecting and removing viruses, antivirus software
can also protect against other threats, such as keyloggers, browser hijackers, Trojan horses, worms, rootkits, spyware, adware, botnets, and ransomware.
Antivirus Software: How It Works
Antivirus software scans computers, servers, or mobile devices in the background to detect and block the spread of malware. Real-time detection and protection tools are integrated into many antivirus software programs to guard against vulnerabilities as they occur. System scans detect possible threats by monitoring device and system files. An antivirus program generally performs these functions:
• A scan of directories or specific files to detect known malicious patterns that indicate the presence of malware;
• The ability to schedule scans for automatic execution;
• The capability to launch new scans at any time; and
• automatically remove malware that is detected. Several antivirus software programs perform this automatically in the background, whereas others notify users of infections and ask them whether they want to remove them.
It is generally necessary for antivirus software to have privileged access to the entire system in order to scan it throughly. In recent years, researchers have found serious vulnerabilities in antivirus software, including remote code execution and other serious security flaws.
Different Types of Antivirus Program
Antivirus software is available in a variety of forms. Some are stand-alone scanners and others are internet security suites offering a range of services that include antivirus protection, firewalls, privacy controls and other security measures.
Some antivirus vendors give away their tools. They usually don't offer anything fancy like anti-malware or firewalls, but they do provide a free version of the software that's good enough to protect your computer from the most common threats. While many operating systems are targeted more frequently by virus developers than others, antivirus software is available for all of them:
• Windows Antivirus Software
Vendors of antivirus software provide varying levels of protection to their customers. Free versions of antivirus software only protect against malware. They do not prevent malware from accessing files on your computer or encrypt sensitive data stored in files. Some versions of antivirus software also include tools that can help to protect against spam and other unwanted email.
Microsoft has offered free antivirus software since 2004 for the purpose of protecting against malware. It wasn't until Windows Vista was released in 2006 that Windows Defender gained full access to the operating system itself. It only worked as a third-party program that ran alongside it before this.