Antivirus Software for Laptop Computers
The major headache of anyone
using a computer is the threat of a computer
virus. It can actually break your whole business
by destroying all essential data stored in your
computer. To fight against this, antivirus software
have been developed. It is a kind of computer
software, which detects and removes computer
viruses as well as other harmful computer softwares,
collectively known as malware. Most modern and
regularly updated antivirus software are being
used to protect the computer from a wide range
of malware including worms, rootkits, and Trojans.
The first wild PC virus was
performed by Bernt Fix in 1987. There are various
antivirus products in market for sale including
Norton Antivirus and Virus Scan from McAfee.
Computer virus is a computer program which can
copy itself and attack the computer without
the user’s permission. The term “virus”
itself refers to the types of malwares, which
may be spywares and adware, which infect the
computer frequently. Virus spreads from one
computer to another as it is carried on removable
medium like floppy disks, CD, DVD, or USB drive.
Viruses affect the files of the network file
system.
Now-a-days, most personal
computers are connected to Internet and local
area networks. As a result, the malicious codes
are easily passed to the computer through it.
Taking the advantage of network services like
World Wide Web, Email, Instant messaging, etc
viruses are spread easily. To restrict viruses
or to make our computer virus free we use many
types of antivirus software available in market.
Types of Antivirus
Software:
Different types of antivirus
software are required to fight against computer
viruses. Some of the biggest names of Antiviruses
are as follows:
• Avast
• Avira
• AVG Antivirus
• Bitdefender
• CA Software
• Kaspersky antivirus
• McAfee VirusScan
• NOD32
• Norton Antivirus
• Panda Security
• PC Tools Antivirus
• Quick Heal Antivirus
• ZoneAlarm
How does the Antivirus
Sofware work?
How does antivirus software
go about doing its job? They have an uncanny
ability to identify and correct the virus that
causes the damage. The identification methods
include:
1. Signature based detection
– It is the most common method to detect
viruses. Antivirus software compares the contents
of the file to the dictionary of viruses to
recognize the viruses.
2. Suspicious behavior monitoring
– Instead of searching for known viruses,
the behavior of all programs are monitored.
Antivirus software detects this suspicious behavior
and asks the user what to do.
3. Heuristics – There
are some classy antivirus software that uses
heuristics analysis to detect the viruses. It
consists of two methods: file analysis and file
emulation.
4. Generic Signatures –
It is used for detection and removal of multiple
threats using a single virus definition.
Effects of Antivirus
Software:
1. Performance – There
are some antivirus software that reduces the
performance of computer. But to make the computer
virus-free, the antivirus software should be
enabled all the time at the cost of slower performance.
2. Security – Antivirus
programs themselves can become a risk as they
often run at the ‘System’ level
of privileges and may hook the kernel to do
its job effectively. Another factor is the subscription
or validity of antivirus softwares while purchasing.
After the validity limit the computer becomes
unsafe although the antivirus is installed.
There are some Antivirus
programs which are able to scan open files in
addition to send and receive emails. So, antivirus
software ia essential for computers to ensure
safe functioning. There is no doubt that with
the increase of new and critical viruses every
day, more and more types of antivirus software
will be available in the market.
Antivirus Sofware
Programs
Norton
Antivirus
Norton
Internet Security
Norton
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