Anti-virus software

Anti-virus software is a kind of anti-malware software which protects a computer from viruses and sometimes also, Trojan horses, worms and other forms of malicious software (malware). Antivirus software protects a computer by comparing files and processes against signatures of known malicious software. If suspicious files are found it will delete or quarantine the malware Antivirus software is generally considered important for both Windows and Mac users. Two leading Internet security companies, Intego and Symantec, both sell dual protection antivirus programs, which protects Mac OS X and Windows from all known viruses.

Popular Options

Many anti-virus companies offer both free and paid options. For some, the free versions are enough, but other find the more options and sometimes better protection of the paid plans worth the cost. Here are some popular anti-virus options.

• AVG (Free & Paid)
• Avira (Free & Paid)
• Avast (Free & Paid)
• ESET (Paid)
• Intego (Paid)
• Zone Alarm
• BitDefender (Paid)
• Kaspersky (Paid).
• Amiti (Free)
• Baidu
• Comodo Antivirus (Paid)
• FortiClient
• Panda Antivirus (Paid)
• McAfee (Paid, from Symantec)
• F-Secure (Paid)
• Trend Micro Antivirus+
• BullGuard
• Sophos(Paid)
• Norton
• Windows Defender (Free, but less trusted by some)

Disadvantages

Although anti-virus software can help keep computer systems safe, it can also cause some problems. One such issue is that some users experience slow-downs, especially when they are using older devices. Due to the process of scanning software activity, the desired tasks can take noticeably longer to complete. However, this is not the only potential issue. Because of its purpose, many anti-virus software solutions tend to be somewhat aggressive, and therefore sometimes make false detection and even inhibit security. Software developers are sometimes find that progress on their product is inhibited due to paranoid antivirus. Even though some changes are safe, they are not always seen as such by security scanners. Some also say that anti-virus software sometimes even damages the security of other software. However, most people are still of the opinion that anti-virus software is still needed. Many pieces of malicious code are detected and stopped by anti-malware platforms. While it can be argued that fewer would be successful if anti-virus software was not "interfering" with software development, most agree that it is better to have anti-virus software than to avoid it.

See also

• Spybot Search & Destroy
• Malwarebytes