Anti-Virus Help

What is a Anti-virus?

Antivirus is software engineered to protect your computer against malicious software and/or code. Malware or malicious software, may be consider as viruses, Trojans, keyloggers, hijackers, dialers, or any other code that injects itself into a computer with the intent to deface or steal personal computer contents. Antivirus software must run at alls time while the computer is turned on in order to be an effective defense. Antivirus software must also be kept updated so it can protect from the latest versions of malicious software.

What is a virus?
A program or programming code that replicates by being copied or initiating its copying to another program, computer boot sector or document. Some Viruses are benign or playful in intent and effect; some can be harmful, erasing data or causing the user's hard disk to require reformatting. Many times, the term "Virus" is used as a generic phrase to include all forms of Malware.

Malware includes Viruses, spyware, worms, keyloggers, trojans, hijackers, adware, and other malicious software. Sometimes Viruses have symptoms that are obvious to the computer user, but many are stealthy.

You have a Spyware blocker and a firewall, but do you need an Antivirus software program as well? The answer, in a word, is YES!

Today's malicious programs are often blended threats. That is, attacks that attempt to maximize their effectiveness by using the attributes of Viruses and worms while exploiting vulnerabilities in physical systems that are typical of Spyware. A blended threat might include an e-mail with a Virus in its attachment and a Trojan containing Spyware, such as a Keylogger.

The foremost difference between Viruses and Spyware is that a Virus spreads and Spyware embeds. Viruses announce their presence loudly. Spyware tries to remain undetected because the longer it stays on your system, the more of your personal data it can send back to the hackers who created it. In the case of blended threats, the Virus would enable the malicious application to spread fast, and the Trojan would ensure that infected users would be a potential source of profit.

Well known software include: McAfee, Nortons, AVG, Avast