What Is Antivirus and How Does It Work?
Antivirus is a security program that scans your device for viruses and malware and then either deletes or quarantines them. It’s an essential piece of software that protects your devices and files from malicious code that can steal PII, slow down systems or even run ransomware to hold your data hostage.
Antivirus programs were first developed in the 1980s to prevent the spread of computer viruses, like Elk Cloner, which infected Apple II systems by attaching itself to floppy disks and then infecting all the data on those disks. The creators of these early viruses were often pranksters looking to make a statement, but by the 1990s these malicious code infections became serious threats that stole and corrupted data, slowed systems, and even logged keystrokes (known as a keylogger).
Virus and malware protection starts with detection. Early antivirus programs matched the unique code of a file against a database of known signatures; modern solutions use combinations of behavioral analysis, cloud-based AI and continuous telemetry to quickly identify and isolate new threats.
While antivirus software handles a huge portion of basic digital threats, it doesn’t stop advanced tactics like credential theft and living-off-the-land attacks, which require broader security solutions. That’s why it’s critical to pair an antivirus solution with other security tools, like a VPN and firewall.