
This allows them to potentially alter their antivirus solution to be more capable of defending against it in the future.
#Best mac virus protection sw software
While deleting a threat cleans your system of the infection, quarantining makes analyzing it easier for antivirus software companies. When antivirus software finds a malicious program on your system, it will typically offer two options: Quarantine it so it’s unable to operate as intended, or delete it entirely. Others, known as remediation tools, offer scanning functionality only and must be run in order to clean up a malware infection after it has taken hold. They even stop you from visiting malicious websites or opening infected emails. Some antivirus software uses live protection to automatically block such viruses and malware from running at all. It can even spot when otherwise legitimate applications have been hijacked by a virus. It uses a number of methods to differentiate between that Word document you’re editing and a nasty piece of software intent on stealing your bank details. What is antivirus software? Yui Mok - PA Images/GettyImagesĪntivirus software (or anti-malware software) is a tool that looks for sneaky applications that don’t belong on your PC (or smartphone). Being well-versed in what these sorts of tools can do is the best way to make an informed choice about the best antivirus software for you or your small business.

If you use best practices for staying safe online - like ignoring links and attachments in untrustworthy emails, avoiding dodgy websites, and sticking to curated app stores - your antivirus may simply operate in the background, seemingly not doing much at all (even though it does).īut what is antivirus software, and how does it work? There are a number of definitions, and, depending on which company’s product you use, their tactics for targeting malicious applications like viruses and ransomware can be quite different.
