Antivirus Software

This article is for students, faculty, and staff who would like to learn about various antivirus software types, their importance, and their benefits.

Table of Contents

Overview

Antivirus software is a type of program that is meant to prevent malware infections, detect existing threats or attacks, and eradicate them from singular computing devices, networks, and entire IT systems. Antivirus programs work by analyzing websites, files, installed software or applications, and other user data to parse for known threats. They automatically monitor day-to-day program behavior, which enables the software to flag anything that is out of the ordinary and alert the user; they confirm the status of the device in question, and users can typically use the program to scan a single file or their entire device on demand.

Antivirus Software Types

There are multiple types of antivirus software products available to users, based on their security needs. The most common types of antivirus software are malware signature, standalone, system monitoring, security software suite, machine learning, and cloud-based. 

Malware Signature

A malware signature (also known as a virus signature) is a continuous sequence of code that is typical for and peculiar to a specific piece of malicious software; it basically serves as a digital fingerprint of a viral threat. Malware signature antivirus software works by scanning for malicious codes, identifying the virus at hand, and disabling it to prevent it from further impacting the device, network, or system.

While these functions are essential for bolstering against threats, malware signature antivirus programs only provide users with the most basic form of threat protection. This form of antivirus does not monitor user data in real time or address new viruses; it can only protect against known threats.

Standalone

Standalone antivirus programs, like malware signature programs, are used to target and eliminate specific, known threats. However, standalone software is designed to be installed on a portable device, like a USB drive, and is commonly used by administrators to scan a compromised system in an emergency. Standalone antivirus software is similar to malware signature antivirus programs in that it is not meant to provide around-the-clock, real-time protection or download new viral signatures every day.

System Monitoring

As the name would suggest, system monitoring software is meant to continuously monitor software and computer systems to gain an understanding of how the device or system is commonly used. This design enables the software to then flag behavior that appears to be suspicious or atypical of the user. Some examples of atypical behavior that may be flagged by system monitoring include:

• Attempts to connect to an unfamiliar or suspicious website.

• Attempts to gain access to a large number of files.

• An unusually large increase in data usage.

When these or other similar behaviors arise, the program will generate an alert. System monitoring can provide real-time protection to users.

Security Software Suites

A security software suite is a set of software tools managed by a central control panel that is designed to prevent devices, networks, and systems from malware infection. From this control panel, the user can access not only the antivirus software but also other additional features in the suite. Suites often offer extra functionalities like anti-spam software, password storage, identity theft protection, and VPNs, among multiple others. 

Security software suites provide more thorough protection against threats than malware signature, standalone, and system monitoring, in that they are designed to combat viruses, along with all other types of malware; they actively monitor for new threats in real time, and the additional features further enhance the protection provided. Common security software suite providers include:

• Bitdefender

• Kaspersky

• Norton

• Avast

• Webroot

• McAfee

Machine Learning 

Machine learning antivirus software uses, as the name would suggest, machine learning techniques to determine what constitutes normal behavior for a given device, network, or system. The software monitors user activity, and using the data it gathers, limits or disables tasks if they are deemed to be suspicious.

The algorithms that power machine learning antivirus software serve to broaden its scope of malware detection; in many cases, such software can monitor millions of other devices and aggregate the data, which facilitates the discovery and development of new malware signatures. These capabilities provide multiple layers of continuous, real-time protection. Machine learning software is ideal for working in tandem with other antivirus programs to further protect devices, networks, and systems from threats.

Cloud-Based

A cloud is a collection of servers that are operated and accessed remotely over the Internet instead of locally via computer and includes any of the software and databases that are run on those servers. Cloud-based antivirus software works in a similar manner; instead of operating locally on a device (which takes up a great deal of storage space and slows down tasks), this form of antivirus protection analyzes files remotely in the cloud.

These programs usually have two components – a desktop client that operates locally on your computer and a web service. The desktop client acts as a light version of a system monitoring program: periodically gathering data, and scanning the device for viruses and other malware without excessively taking up memory. The web service then processes this information in the cloud, comparing it to its virus and malware database to identify matches.

This article is for students, faculty, and staff. It provides background information on free and paid antivirus software that can be used in protecting desktop devices from cybersecurity threats. 

ITS ensures that all University computers, networks, and systems have proper cybersecurity measures in place, including antivirus programs and tools. Despite the fact that non-University devices are not supported, ITS strongly encourages all users to take action to protect their personal devices, especially laptops. To assist users in taking these security measures, lists of recommended software, both free and paid, are provided in the sections below. 

Free Antivirus Software

Free antivirus software is widely available and is often offered by providers that also produce a paid version of their products. While it tends to only provide only basic protection, free antivirus software enables users to exercise more flexibility in choosing which software features they would like to have in place based on their security needs. With free software, users have a wide variety of providers to choose from, and they can enhance the basic security provided by adding other security tools like firewalls, and link-scanning.

There are two main drawbacks to free antivirus software. The first is that enhancing software capabilities by adding on features a la carte requires some research and technological savvy on the user’s part, especially because of the complications that could potentially result from custom security measures. The second drawback is the lack of technological support for free antivirus programs. While paid versions of these services usually provide support for subscribers, free software users are often left to their own devices (so to speak) and are provided with only a knowledge base or forum for sharing issues and seeking assistance.

Some common, free antivirus software products include:

• Avast Free Antivirus

• Avira AntiVir Personal

• Threatfire Free

• Malwarebytes Free

Paid Antivirus Software

Paid antivirus software offers more comprehensive functionality than do free products. Not only do they scan for threats, but they also offer additional security features, like parental controls. Unlike free software users, paid antivirus software users are also provided with phone and/or email support as part of the subscription.

While they provide users with more protection, paid antivirus software does not offer as many additional features as a full security software suite.

Some common, paid antivirus software products include:

• Panda Antivirus Pro

• Norton Antivirus

• BitDefender Antivirus Pro 2024

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