Most people think that their computer’s antivirus software is just to protect their computer from viruses, but they actually do more than that. Most antivirus programs, protect your computer from viruses, attacks from hackers trying to get your personal information, and help you get rid of viruses that are already on your computer.
The antivirus does a lot of work in the background to protect and keep your computer safe, the antivirus software runs in the background, when you are using your computer, and scans every file you open, making sure it is safe, and alerting you if it is not, it is called on-access scanning.
You may think an EXE file opens as soon as you double click it, but it actually doesn’t your antivirus checks the file for any known viruses, worms or malware before it opens it, to make sure it doesn’t infect your computer when you open it up. The antivirus on your computer also does what is called heuristic checking, which is when it checks the programs on your computer for the types of behavior that indicate a new virus in your system.
On-access scanning can be turned off if you want, but it isn’t recommended, because it would make it easier for viruses to infect your system.
A full system scan is usually initiated to check if your computer has a virus, and to remove it if it does. Due to the fact that on-access scanning helps to detect and remove viruses automatically, there is no real need to run a full system scan, unless you are installing a new antivirus system on your computer, and you want to make sure there are no dormant viruses on your system.
Another reason you don’t have to worry about doing a full system scan is the fact that most antivirus software schedule a full system scan at least once a week, because it allows the use of the latest virus definitions to scan for dormant viruses on your system.
Antivirus software constantly downloads upgrades or virus definitions, because they have to be up-to-date on the latest threats to your computer, when the software detects a malware or virus on a file, it automatically puts the program in quarantine, or automatically deletes the program, depending on the settings.
It’s important to have antivirus for small businesses as they’re potentially more vulnerable than larger organisations who have a team of security networking experts. Small businesses will face costs if viruses infect their infrastructure leading to potentl fees to fix the issue or legal costs if data is stolen.
These are a few of the ways that antivirus programs work to protect your computers, if you are interested in getting an antivirus program, you should compare some of the best available antivirus software available, to find the one that fits your needs.