Computers are all around us. They allow us to play and work, keep track of patients in hospitals, and manage crucial manufacturing processes. This convenience has a downside as more computer-based devices are targets for hackers.
Antivirus protection scans programs and files to identify threats and acts as a live shield against cyber-attacks. It detects infected programs and files by their telltale sign – two lines of assembly code that replaces the stack pointer for example and compares them against the database of known malware software. If the program matches the antivirus software, it blocks it from running and moves it to quarantine, so it can be thoroughly analyzed and scanned.
Unfortunately, malicious software developers frequently create new programs with subtler and different telltale signatures. Antivirus programs need to update their databases. The good news is that once a virus has been discovered and added to the detection database it becomes more difficult for hackers to use that same signature against see post other computers.
The most trusted antivirus programs come with various features that guard against a wide range of malware threats. These include:
