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If you connect any device to the internet (including smartphones and IoT devices) or use a computer to browse the web, antivirus protection is essential. Viruses and malware have been around for decades, and without protection you could experience malware infections that compromise your devices or expose personal information.

Antivirus programs have a variety of ways to detect and remove malware, but they all work on the same basic principle: They scan files and programs for malicious code and then either approve or block them based on their findings. The best antivirus programs offer multiple layers of defense, combining signature-based detection with heuristic and behavior-based detection.

Signature-based detection compares incoming files to a database of known malware signatures, looking for matches that indicate malicious intent. This method is fast and effective, but requires antivirus software to regularly update its malware signature database to stay ahead of new threats.

Heuristic-based detection is similar to signature-based detection, but instead of searching for exact matches it looks for tendencies in incoming files and programs that indicate malicious activity. This method can be more accurate than signature-based detection but may still produce false positives, where an innocent program exhibits similar behaviors as a known malware threat.

Behavior-based detection uses machine learning to identify and block malware based on how it behaves. This technique analyzes a file or program for actions that typically signal a threat, such as modifying or deleting large numbers of files, monitoring keystrokes, changing settings on other programs and remotely connecting to devices.