What Is Antivirus and Why Do You Need It?
Antivirus is software that detects, prevents, searches for and removes viruses and other malware from computers, networks and external devices. Often included in a security package, antivirus programs can mitigate cyber attacks and stop ransomware, keyloggers, worms, botnets, spyware, adware and more from compromising your data and devices.
The most basic antivirus program is a scanning engine that taps into a huge database of known viruses, trojans and other malware (thousands of different kinds, constantly being updated) and looks for those files in the files on your computer. When the program finds a malicious file, it will often alert you with a pop-up window and ask you to confirm that you want the program to remove it. Some programs will automatically delete the malware once it’s been confirmed.
Since the number of malware threats is growing exponentially and it’s becoming harder for antivirus programs to keep up, next-gen software approaches use behavioral detection, machine learning, sandbox analysis and other techniques to spot threats before they cause damage. These advanced systems may also help identify and stop unknown, zero-day attacks.
Josh Brunty had spent more than a decade in cybersecurity, first as a digital forensics expert for the West Virginia state police and then as a professor at Marshall University, but it took him a while to figure out what many people working in the field already knew: There really is no reason to buy third-party antivirus protection for most personal computers, tablets or smartphones. Those types of devices get their content and apps from managed sources, like Apple’s App Store or Google Play, and aren’t as susceptible to the kinds of attacks that hit PCs with open-ended access to the web.