How Are Anti Viruses Made?

Anti-virus programs are created in an effort to combat virus infections on computers. They use a sophisticated detection system to find and delete viruses that are downloaded and installed on computers.

Updated

Anti-virus software provides users with constantly updated protection against online threats that seek to infect their computer.

Function

Anti-virus programs use regularly updated virus "definitions" that tell the program what types of new viruses to look for. These definitions are created by security experts who analyze the latest virus threats.

Types

Some anti-virus programs run off of a strict list of virus definitions, while others use a predictive algorithm that tries to find viruses that are outside of the definition list.

Time Frame

Anti-virus programs are usually updated daily, and sent out to home and commercial virus scanners as quickly as they are created.

Effects

Anti-virus programs can occasionally mis-categorize a legitimate file as a virus, resulting in the accidental deletion of a genuine file.

References

• Virus Definitions and Security Updates