How Does Antivirus Work?
Antivirus is a baseline tool that MSPs use to protect clients against malicious files and malware applications. Learning how antivirus works can help MSPs assess their product options and select the best tools for their clients’ needs.
Antivirus programs work by analyzing files and programs on a system to identify potential viruses. The program then quarantines or deletes the contaminated file or program. Some programs also prevent the download of viruses by analyzing links, blocking suspicious websites, and alerting users of unsafe downloads.
Typically, antivirus programs analyze for malicious code by looking for unique strings of data in the code that are characteristic of known viruses. These signatures are added to a database that is checked by the antivirus software when it encounters a new file or program. This type of detection is called signature-based analysis.
Other types of AV programs analyze for malicious code by looking at how a program behaves. These heuristic analysis methods can catch new viruses and programs that have been tampered with to avoid detection (like polymorphic strains that change their own signatures each time they replicate).
Other forms of antivirus program analyze files remotely in the cloud. This is a more modern approach to antivirus protection and eliminates the need for the program to analyze the files locally on a computer which can consume a lot of storage space and slow down tasks. Some premium security suites utilize this technique to provide the latest and most robust defense against viruses.