A good antivirus program will prevent malware infections and eliminate threats to individual computer devices, networks, or entire IT systems. The programs scan websites, software, files, and user information to look for known malware types as well as monitor day-today software behavior to detect possible threats and alert users.
The majority of antivirus protections provide multiple scanning options which include scheduled, on-access and quick scans. On-access scans check directories of the operating system and common file areas to look for malicious code at the time of launch. Scheduled scans allow you to set your daily schedule, a weekly schedule or a monthly schedule to run a complete system scan at a specified time. Quick scans are typically a few minutes long and examine the most frequently used areas of your computer, such as temporary files as well as the operating system directory, or memory.
Some programs use heuristics to search for malware, looking for patterns and tendencies that are similar to those found in other programs. This is a more advanced form of virus detection compared to signature-based detection, and can detect malware that other programs can’t. These advanced forms of antivirus detection may not work as well for small businesses, as they are often prone to false positives–identifying secure parts of files and programs as potentially harmful.
As the business world is becoming more interconnected hackers are targeting companies more frequently to snag caches of consumer data or to create some name for themselves with hacktivism (disrupting professional systems for political or social reasons). It is vital for all kinds of companies to be in place to prevent these cyberattacks, and keep your company and its customers protected.
