How an Antivirus Program Works

How an Antivirus Program Works

Antivirus software is used to scan files so we can identify and remove the viruses or other malicious threats found on our computer especially those malwares. It defines 2 techniques to do the task which are:

1. Virus dictionary method

2. Suspicious actions method

On the first technique, when an antivirus inspect a file, it denotes to a list of known viruses that have been specified by the author of the antivirus software. If the found virus matches on the file specified on the dictionary, it will then quarantine it so it will become unavailable to other programs and it will be impossible to broaden the virus, or repair the file by taking the virus out from it, or just delete the file. The virus dictionary method compels a periodic downloads on the internet of a up-to-date virus dictionary entries so it will become effective after some time.

The dictionary antivirus programs usually inspect the files when an operating system establish, open and close them and when the files are sent through emails. This way, viruses are easily detected after receiving the message. Antivirus software can also be scheduled to scan your files on the computer's hard disk daily.

The second technique observes the behavior of the computer programs. If a program tries to write any data to a .exe file. When there is any suspicious behavior found and the user already noticed it and asked what to do with it, it will give protection on those new well-known viruses that are not yet listed on the antivirus dictionaries. Antivirus software are commonly structured by most companies and individuals who are selling it for the computer owners with a fee. But there are also free version which you can download without needing to purchase it for a trial purposes. It is still recommended to purchase the antivirus software complete package for a more ample protection and to use the features of it.