The Definition of the Word Virus Protection
The definition of virus protection has evolved through the years, mainly because viruses have become more sophisticated and advanced in infecting computers. In its simplest sense, virus protection means to protect a system from a file that replicates itself without the consent of the user. This act of replication can extend itself from one computer to millions of others around the world. Virus protection software or anti-virus software have constantly evolved to keep up with evolving threats.
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A Brief History Of Viruses
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Before Internet use became widespread, viruses were self-replicating applications that constantly created themselves without the user's knowledge. From one directory, a virus replicates itself in other directories and was considered more of an inconvenience and annoyance rather than a serious threat. Soon, however, as computers become interconnected, viruses found their self-replicating abilities useful in infecting other computers connected to the infected computer.
These annoyances became serious when viruses evolved to do more than just replicate themselves. They would corrupt files, gather sensitive information, spy on user's activities, or cause massive Internet traffic that bogs down servers all over the world because of their ability to replicate and spread so quickly in a matter of hours.
Several terms have evolved from the word virus, which characterizes the threat's properties. A trojan for example, like the story it was based on, is a seemingly harmless file that makes itself available for a malicious file to ride on and be dropped to multiple computers. A worm is typically an executable program that replicates itself to other computers and causes harm. A spyware program was developed from worms, whose sole purpose is to gather sensitive information from your computer and pass it on to a remote server without your knowledge.
There are several other terms that evolved from viruses. Collectively, these security threats are called malware, which is a contraction of the words malicious software.
Anti-Virus
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An anti-virus program is software that actively protects your computer from malware. It is systematically built to scan your computer for files that are being created, downloaded or accessed. File scanning happens in real time, which means any file you create, download or move from one location to another is always being scanned. Scanning also happens if you have set a schedule to scan your computer or you manually run a scan.
All these types of scan are necessary because they fulfill different roles for virus protection. Real-time scan protects you by scanning files that are currently active and running on your computer. Scheduled scan protects you by thoroughly scanning your computer for viruses by checking every file and directory. Manual scan protects you by scanning folders and files you commonly access.
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Anti-Virus Components
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Virus protection usually has two components essential to protecting your computer. The first is a scan engine, which is the application program that runs actively on your computer to scan for threats. The second is the virus pattern or pattern file, which contains the definition or data of currently known viruses. They are called pattern files because they also detect behaviors and patterns of files. If some files in your computer behave suspiciously, pattern files can scan them as viruses even though they have yet to be named or classified. This is called heuristic scanning, which is an important principle in virus protection because it scans files based on their behavior.
Exploits and Vulnerabilities
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Operating systems are not built perfectly, but in the best possible way to satisfy all computer functions that a user would need. You don't want a computer that can do word processing only or spreadsheets; you want computers to do a whole lot of other things, from playing games to surfing the World Wide Web. To accommodate all these needs, some computer applications or processes become vulnerable to viruses.
There are codes that are not programmed properly, which can be tweaked and exploited for viruses to attack and spread. There are programs and applications that, because of their complexity, make them vulnerable to attacks. This is why regularly patching your operating system is important because patches fix these vulnerabilities and prevent your computer from being exploited. Vulnerabilities provide a back door for viruses to exploit your computer.
Tips for Virus Protection
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Always have an anti-virus program on your computer. This is the first and foremost virus protection that you must have because AV software is usually comprised of multi-layered programs that safeguard your computer from all kinds of malicious threats.
Second, you must regularly update your computer for patches or any vulnerabilities. This prevents your computer from being exploited by viruses.
Third, always be careful of the sites you visit, the attachments you open and the files you download. If the sources of the files you are downloading are not known, it is better to cancel the download or refrain from opening the attachment.
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