Antivirus Software prevents malicious software such as viruses from affecting your internet-capable devices and networks. It also detects and removes such malware that is already present within your systems. Most antivirus software runs quietly on the back of your operating system and warns you once it detects infected files entering your devices. It can also issue a warning when you enter a dangerous website or service while browsing the internet.
Modern antivirus software uses three main methods to detect threats.
- Specific detection describes the method through which the app uses a database of known malware to protect your system.
- Generic detection looks for patterns or parts of known malware activity to detect potentially newly developed variants of those viruses.
- The heuristic detection uses known suspicious file structures to identify newly developed viruses.
Among the most popular and powerful pieces of antivirus software on the mass market today include Avast, Norton AntiVirus, Bitdefender, Avira, and AVG Technologies.