A good antivirus program prevents malware infections and eradicates existing threats or attacks on singular computer systems, networks, or entire IT systems. The program scans websites, files, downloaded software and user data for known malware types. They also monitor the program’s behavior to identify potential threats.
Most antivirus protections offer various scanning options that include scheduled, speedy and on-access scans. On-access scans search for malware in operating system directories, common file areas, and other common places upon starting. Scheduled scans allow you to set the day’s schedule, a weekly one or a monthly one to run a full system scan at a certain time. The scans are typically short amount of time and will examine commonly used areas of your computer such as temporary files, the operating system directory, or memory.
Some programs use heuristics in order to scan for malware, looking for similar patterns and tendencies. This is a much more advanced method of virus detection as compared to signature-based detection and may detect malware that other programs fail to recognize. 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 becomes more interconnected hackers are focusing on businesses with more frequency to score caches of consumer data or to make an image for themselves through hacktivism (disrupting professional systems for social or political reasons). It is vital for all types of businesses to have in place to prevent these cyberattacks and keep your business and its customers safe.