Antivirus Software - Why Do You Need It?
May 25, 2008
Antivirus software is designed to protect computers from invasion by known viruses of various kinds, and is also used to protect them from the potential severe consequences of infection. The important word used here is ‘known’ since no antivirus software can detect viruses that are as yet unknown.
However, the library, or ‘dictionary’ as it is known, of viruses is increasing daily, and the worth of the antiviral software stored on a computer is measured by the size of dictionary that is downloaded and used by the software, and the speed with which newly discovered viruses are added to it.
The effects of the infection of computer by a virus can be very serious, and could include all or any of identity theft, loss of data, fraud, a slow-down in the speed of a computer or even its total destruction. Antivirus software is therefore a very important component of a computer and yet, because it costs money over and above the price of the computer, frequently ignored.
Neglecting to include protection against viruses is very dangerous, and could not only create problems with your own computer, but also lead to your emails infecting the machine of others you email. You would not be thanked for that, so everybody that uses a computer should make sure that it is adequately protected with the appropriate software.
The way that such software works is that it compares pieces of code within a file with that of known viruses. If the codes match then there are options open to the software that can frequently be provided to the users in order for them to make a decision as to the fate of the virus. Generally, the options are to delete the file containing the virus, to quarantine it so that no other programs can access the file, or to repair the file by removing the virus from it.
The updated list of viruses has to be periodically downloaded by the antivirus software stored on the computer so that it can be applied to the scan, although the effectiveness depends very much on information on new viruses being passed onto the software developers to be included in their list for download. Although such lists are used during a scan of the storage devices on the computer, it is generally more effective to examine files as they are being opened and closed.
Viruses are more easily detected when files are opened or created, and also especially when being emailed. Any viruses attached to emails can be detected by antivirus software at the point of receipt of the email and then removed. However, if there is no such software installed on the receiving computer, then the virus will be free to do as it wants, assuming that the recipient opens the attachment.
Any unusual attachments on emails, or an attachment that is seen that shouldn’t be there, must be treated as being suspicious and not opened. The proper action to take in the absence of the proper software is to save the file and then delete it. Then go to the trash bin and delete it also from there. However, there is a growing worry that a way will be found to activate a virus when it is either saved or deleted to the trash bin. The only answer then would be the correct form of antivirus software.
However this type of software does have its limitations and what it cannot do is to protect your computer from any program that you install that might contain a virus, hackers trying to access your computer and any form of online criminal activity. Antivirus software is effective only against know viruses contained within the dictionary of viruses that the software has downloaded to your computer. If the virus is not in that list then you are not protected against it.
However, there is no substitute for such software, and you cannot be sure that you will not download a virus or that one will not reach your computer from an email or the internet. You will not be aware of a virus until it starts to do its work, the consequences of which will be unknown until it has achieved its end. As previously inferred, that could be as simple as deleting some files or as serious as shutting down your computer – permanently!
If you do not yet have antivirus software installed on your computer then you should have it done now. Don’t think that because nothing has yet happened to your computer that it will not: statistics show that practically all computers will be infected by a virus, and that without antivirus software the consequences could be very serious.
Why are you waiting? When it happens it will be too late for your computer. Why do people not hesitate to spend over $1000 on a computer yet refuse the few dollars for antivirus software to protect it? It makes no sense.
Post brought to you courtesy of Computer Tips By Olan
