The best antivirus software applications use a combination of executable code and heuristics to detect and eliminate malware threats such as viruses, worms, adware, spyware and Trojan horses from computers. Antivirus software is configured to find and remove known threats as well as so-called "zero-day threats," for which no signature protocol has yet been established.
Features and Advantages of Antivirus Software
Antivirus Internet security software maintains a database of known viruses and worms and automatically scans your computer at predetermined intervals to ensure that no such malware has infected your computer. Users can also manually initiate and run a scan, or customize the software to run scans more frequently than is prescribed by the software's default settings.
Antivirus software can also be combined with firewall software for increased computer security. Combination antivirus and firewall software finds and eliminates virus threats while simultaneously blocking outsiders from accessing your computer.
Viruses and worms have the potential to seriously harm your computer. If your computer becomes infected, you could lose files and computer functionality. In the worst cases, you'll need to reformat your hard drive to completely eliminate these threats, and if you haven't used backup software to create copies of important documents, they'll be lost forever.
Popular Antivirus Software Applications
While there is a lot of free antivirus software available for download on the Internet, these programs are typically limited in what they're able to do. For example, the databases of known threats that they offer can quickly become out-of-date since they won't automatically update unless you sign up for updates—and you'll have to pay for those. They also typically work only for a specified trial period, after which you will lose the protection they offer. If you're serious about protecting your computer, you should pay for a quality antivirus application.
There are many antivirus software programs that provide excellent protection. BitDefender, Kaspersky, Webroot, ESET Nod32, F-Secure Antivirus, AVG Antivirus, McAfee VirusScan, G DATA Antivirus, Norton Antivirus and Trend Micro have all been well-received by independent reviewers, and you can trust them to provide effective protection against the threats that are, unfortunately, a part of life on the World Wide Web.