Anti-Virus Software
Viruses are programs which attempt to infiltrate a computer's software and operating system. Its intentions vary, but they are rarely good. Most viruses, including worms, Trojans, keyloggers, and malware, are all designed to gather information from your computer and send it to someone else. Some of these programs have strictly malicious intentions, such as the disruption of a program's normal function. These can be used to sabotage control systems for manufacturing facilities, power plants, or security systems. Those that are used for information gathering usually are helpful in conducting data breaches and identity theft.
To counter these dangerous programs, software engineers work tirelessly to provide
best-up-to-date anti-virus programs that can detect and contain the viruses. The difficulty is that most virus programs are released with little or no warning. It isn't until computer operators start noticing problems that they realize they've been infected with a virus. The challenge to anti virus software development is to find programs that are able to respond instantaneously to infection attempts. As programmers continue to work on these problems, many are leaning toward artificial intelligence and similar ideas for effective solutions. While some programs seem to be effective, they can also result in many "false-positives" when detecting malicious files and programs. Monitoring these programs can be tedious for those who are unfamiliar with software design.
Behavior Blocking
One of the many types of anti-viral software on the market today includes behavior-blocking technology. These systems serve as virus protection software for computers, and they are proving to be very effective. This type of program reviews each action that a piece of software is attempting to perform, analyzes its behavior, and either permits it to continue, or notifies the user that a program is attempting to commit a questionable act.
The biggest issue with behavior blocking software is that it requires the computer operator to be much more familiar with software design. The average office worker using a desktop computer for administrative duties, such as word processing, database maintenance, and webpage design, don't usually have a very broad understanding of software programs, and may not know if they should permit an act or deny it. Many routine programs on a computer make changes to other programs as a regular part of their process. Such routine activities could cause repeated notifications by behavior blocking software, which could slow the computer user's productivity substantially.
Real-Time Scanning
One of the current goals of anti-virus designers is to come up with software that operates in a real-time manner. Every time a file is downloaded, opened, received, copied, or modified, a real-time scanning program analyzes it for possible security risks. Such real time scanning and virus protection software would provide immediate detection. The procedure for this type of program is, after analyzing a file for security risks, the software immediately flags the user with the name of the file and with the specific security threat being exhibited. This constant monitoring provides the highest level of security against viruses, malware, and other malicious programs.
Many of these programs can be set up to also remove any files that are dangerous, and to update the anti-virus software to look for recurrences of the threat. Programs can be configured so that they do not warn users of their anti-viral activities, thus reducing disruption in the operator's routine. Although this may not always be the desired setting for some users, most will benefit by the lack of interruption. It maybe useful to alert the user about problem files, so that the user can report the problem to the file's originator or to the organization's IT office.
Battling against computer viruses, malware, spyware, and other unwanted programs is never ending. For those who are tasked with finding appropriate software, learning more about artificial intelligence-based programs, behavior blockers, and real-time analysis will be extremely helpful. Without knowledge of these program options, lesser protection may be used, failing to adequately protect computer systems. Of course, users should do their part in minimizing the introduction of viruses by using caution when opening emails and downloading files from the internet. Minimizing the number of programs that begin during startup can also help reduce inadvertent introductions of malware and similar malicious viruses.
About The Author:
James has been associated with the IT industry for the past 5 years. He is working as a tech support specialist in NYC. Besides system troubleshooting, he loves to write articles related to computer security and educates people about cloud antivirus softwares in order to keep their PC safe from malware and viruses.
