Antivirus Protection Programs – How they Work to Keep Your Computer Virus Free

There are virtually thousands of antivirus protection programs available on the market today – yet there literally millions of people who have no idea how these programs really work to keep their computers running smooth and efficient. The simple reason is that from time to time, those who design the products tend to over explain the functional attributes of the antivirus protection programs in a language that is ½ Basic English and ½ computer code. 

Fortunately there will be no lost in translation issues with this article. And if you’ve ever wanted to truly comprehend how an Antivirus program works, we’ll do our best to articulate this in the next 400 or so words. 

WHAT IS ANTIVIRUS?

In its most simple definition, an Antivirus program is computer software which is used to detect, remove and then prevent harmful malware including:

There are many different ways that antivirus programs work and strategies that companies used to make them highly effective. Some of the most common methods include:

Signature-Based antivirus detection

This method searches for patterns of data that are known to cause harm inside the computer’s code. In order to defend them, antivirus software will rely on signatures that identify malware viruses. This method is very effective in defending a computer against malware that has already been detected before and has a certain ‘signature’ or fingerprint that previously been detected. Each time a new virus has been detected by a computer company’s other detection methods this signature is uploaded to a ‘parent file’ at the software company’s server and then uploaded to signature-based antivirus protection software programs. This is why updating antivirus protection is highly critical to ongoing success in protecting a computer. 

Heuristics antivirus detection

Another method employed to find the virus is to search for a ‘genetic code’ or Heuristic detection that some viruses possess. This antivirus protection method looks for similar patterns of code (or what can be best described as a genetic code) and can detect those viruses prior to them attaching to the computer’s hard drive. Most computer viruses out there are based on a previous virus, but are slightly modified to attempt to sneak past signature-based detection. The Heuristic detection software blocks these viruses from entering the system. 

Rootkit and Real-Time antivirus detection

These two antivirus software features allow a higher-level of virus detection and prevention by monitoring the computer for suspicious activity that viruses often display. These programs are utilized in real-time, so every time you open an
email, browse the internet or upload / download any file, the antivirus protection program can inform you whether or not that application is trustworthy, reliable and safe to download. 

The best antivirus software programs are those who encompass all of these methods to ensure your computer can be as protected as possible. They use complex algorithms and coded language in order to prevent the virus from entering your computer and eliminating them if they happen to sneak in. As with any computer based technology, antivirus programs are always improving and try very hard to stay ahead of the bad guys out there in the online world.