Antivirus Software

By Richard L. Smith, SoftwareReviews.biz

The main aim of the antivirus software is to identify the computer viruses. After it has identified the viruses, it eliminates them and makes you computer free of any type of virus. In order to do so, the antivirus software makes use of two methods to achieve it. They carry out a thorough scanning of the files to detect some known virus that matches the definition of virus as specified in the virus dictionary. They even look out for some suspicious behavior from the computer programs that may hint infection. They perform this operation with the help of port monitoring, data capture and similar techniques.

Usually the commercial antivirus software makes use of the dictionary approach the checks for virus definition. Most of the antivirus software combines both these approaches. In the virus dictionary approach, the antivirus software identifies the virus with the help of the definition that is specified in the dictionary. On detecting virus in the files, they either repair it by eliminating the virus, or quarantine the file to make it unapproachable to other programs in order to check the spread of virus. The infected file can also be deleted by the antivirus software. In the dictionary approach system, the antivirus software detects virus upon its receipt. This is achieved since the antivirus software scans the files while the operating system of the computer is creating the file, opening, email or closing it.

The suspicious behavior approach helps to check virus by observing the behavior of the programs. If there is a program that attempts to write data on an executable file, the movement will be under suspect by this antivirus software and it will straight away alert the user and ask for feedback on how to proceed. The advantage of this procedure is that it helps to check the brand new viruses that are not yet defined in the virus dictionary. But this kind of approach creates a lot of false positives that make the users less precautious while scanning for virus. The antivirus software also makes use of various other methods to detect viruses including the heuristic analysis, sandbox and more.

The Platinum Internet Security 2005 has the combined benefits of firewall, antivirus, TruPrevent technology and spam filtering. The PC-cillin antivirus software has sturdy antivirus capability with spyware protection, spam filtering, privacy data protection, firewall, parental control and more. The BitDefender Professional Edition of antivirus software protects your computer against spyware, instant message threats and viruses. They restrict unwanted traffic through the rules of firewall. The Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal provides superior antivirus protection by detecting the infected files that are present in the archives. The Titanium 2006 provides your computer with a double layer of protection with its antivirus and antispyware components. It provides protection from phishing, online fraud and hackers. Some of the other popular antivirus software includes F-Secure Anti-Virus, ESET Nod32, and McAfee VirusScan, AVG AntiVirus, eTrust EZ Antivirus, Norman Virus Control and Norton antivirus software.

Most of the antivirus software is available with multiple virus scan. It is very easy to install the antivirus software in your computer. But, before selecting the type of antivirus software to be installed in your computer, you must consider a number of criteria. Make sure that the antivirus software is really easy to use irrespective of your knowledge of computers and viruses. Make sure that you research to buy the best antivirus software that detects the viruses during real-time scanning. Select antivirus software that will effectively quarantine the infected files to prevent the spread of virus. Make sure that the antivirus software is prompt and active enough to immediately alert you when virus is detected in easy to understand reports. The antivirus software should be easy to install and must contain an effective and simple help document or FAQ.

© softwarereviews.biz All rights reserved