BotNet News

Antivirus software scans your computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets for viruses and other malware to protect the information on those devices and keep them running smoothly. It often uses multiple layers of protection to detect and mitigate these threats, including signature detection, heuristic scanning, behavior-based detection and sandbox analysis.

When a virus or other threat is detected, it can be quarantined and prevented from spreading or causing additional damage. Some antivirus programs will alert you (usually with a pop-up or dialog box) when a new type of malware is found and ask if you want to remove it, while others will automatically clean up the infected file behind the scenes.

In the early days of personal computers, viruses were disseminated via infected floppy disks. The first widely distributed computer virus was a program called Elk Cloner, which began infecting Apple II systems in 1982 and spread by contaminating any floppy disk it touched. Since that time, cybersecurity experts have discovered countless malware infections, and antivirus programs have evolved to prevent them from spreading and causing harm. As the number and variety of cyberattacks has increased, antivirus solutions have expanded to include cloud analysis, sandboxing, machine learning and other advanced techniques. They also tap into global intelligence sources to stop emerging attacks before they cause damage. These next-generation approaches combine signature detection with behavior-based detection, heuristic scanning and sandboxing to monitor for suspicious activities that could indicate a virus or other malicious code.