History of antivirus software

Keywords: antivirus software introduction, antivirus technology history

Antivirus Software

History of Antivirus Software

There are contending cases for the innovator of the first antivirus product. Possibly the first publicly noted removal of a computer virus in the wild was performed by Brent Fix in 1987. An antivirus program to counter the Polish MKS disease premiered in 1987. Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit, AIDSTEST and AntiVir were released by in 1988. Dr. Ahn Chul Soo (Charles Ahn, founder of AhnLab Inc) in South Korea also released the Anti-Virus software called 'V1' in June 10, 1988. By late 1990, nineteen split antivirus products were available including Norton AntiVirus and McAfee VirusScan. Early on contributors to work on computer infections and countermeasures included Fred Cohen, Peter Tippett, and John McAfee.

Before Internet connectivity was widespread, infections were typically disperse by afflicted floppy disks. Antivirus software came into use, but was kept up to date relatively infrequently. During this time, trojan checkers essentially possessed to check on executable data files and the shoe sectors of floppy and devices. However, as internet utilization became common, at first by using modems, viruses pass on throughout the Internet.

Powerful macros found in word cpu applications, such as Microsoft Term, presented an additional risk. Virus freelance writers started out using the macros to write viruses embedded within documents. This meant that pcs could now also be vulnerable from infection by documents with invisible attached macros as programs.

Later email programs, specifically Microsoft Outlook Exhibit and Prospect, were susceptible to viruses inserted in the e-mail body itself. Now, a user's computer could be contaminated by just beginning or previewing a message. This designed that disease checkers had to check a lot more types of data files. As always-on broadband cable connections became the norm and increasingly more viruses were released, it became essential to update disease checkers more and more frequently. Even then, a fresh zero-day pathogen could become widespread before antivirus companies released an revise to protect against it.

What can be an Antivirus program?

An antivirus program is used as a security measure and coverage tool against computer infections. The job of the antivirus program is to check out, detect preventing viruses. Not all antivirus programs can perform these basic jobs, but this will be reviewed later on in this article.

Antivirus programs are an essential tool you'll want installed on your computer or network. Antivirus programs offer real-time, on-access and on-demand safeguard for your personal computer. The way the programs works is dependant on the version of the antivirus program you have. Antivirus programs can be considered a standalone or can be contained in a protection collection and are allocated in 32 and 64-bit versions on multiple operating systems such as Home windows, Linux and Macintosh, allowing all different types of computers to be shielded from harmful software.

Why is Antivirus Software Necessary?

Security is a significant concern when it comes to the safeness of your individual information. If someone were to access your information and utilize it, the consequence would be drastic. Information security is concerned with three main areas;

• Confidentiality - people's information should only be available to anyone who has the right to notice.
• Availability - information should only be accessible when someone needs it.
• Integrity - information should only be changed by people who are authorized to change it.

These concepts apply to home Internet users as much as they would to any commercial or federal government network. You probably wouldn't let a stranger look over your important documents. Just as, you might keep the responsibilities you perform on your pc confidential, be it tracking your assets or sending electronic mails to family and friends. Also, you ought to have some guarantee that the information you enter your computer remains intact and is available when you need it.

Some security risks come up from the opportunity of intentional misuse of your computer by intruders via the Internet. Others are risks that you'll face in case you weren't connected to the web (e. g. hard disk drive failures, theft, electricity outages). The bad reports is that you almost certainly cannot plan for every possible risk. The glad tidings are that you may take some simple steps to reduce the chance that you'll be affected by the most common threats -- plus some of those steps assist with both intentional and accidental risks you might face.

Virus? Exactly what is a Virus?

Before we continue and let you know how an antivirus program scans, detects and prevents infections and malware, let us discuss what exactly a trojan is. Like its genetic equivalent, a computer virus is an application that spreads unwanted and unexpected activities through the insides of your personal computer. Not all infections are destructive, but many are written to ruin particular types of data, applications or even operating systems. Some examples of trojans are; Trojan horses viruses, worms, spyware and adware, adware, rootkits, and many other types of malware.

Viruses have been with us since the early 1970's. Even though they never had an internet connection back in the 70's trojans still infected personal computers by floppy disks. Yes, FLOPPY DISKS, the old 5 1\4" disks. The first saved virus is at 1971 and it was called the Creeper Pathogen, which was written by Bob Thomas. What the Creeper virus did was it afflicted a distant computer by the ARPNET and copied itself showing the concept "I'M THE CREEPER: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!". Ironically the "Reaper" was made to erase the Creeper. The Reaper program was not like the anti-virus programs we know today, but in reality was a trojan itself in that it was self replicating and distributed by way of a network.

How an Antivirus Program Works

The first & most important task of the antivirus program is to protect, prevent, or prevent any destructive activity in your personal computer or home and office network in real-time. The real-time coverage should bring about an alert or provide programmed action whenever a suspected or positively identified malware activity is diagnosed. Most antivirus programs will only screen some critical areas in your personal computer.

When an antivirus program is installed, it will start monitoring the activity of the machine by searching data files that are being accessed, transferred, or stored to or from the hard disks and exterior/removable drives. Data files that are being downloaded from the Internet are scanned. In case a suspicious activity is diagnosed, the antivirus program will automatically remove the file or stop the operations that are posing risk to your system, your associates, or other computer systems or devices in on your network, if you don't trust the document that you are receiving.

Antivirus programs offer various kinds detection methods to identify malware, but the most typical detection methods is heuristic examination and by using traditional pathogen diagnosis (signature-based).

1. Characteristics of an application - This is called heuristics scanning. Heuristic scanning motors focus on the basic principle that viruses will most likely use certain "tricks" or methods of infecting, and for that reason if a program looks like it might be using those stunts, there is a possibility that the program is a disease. Reasonable simple? No, not necessarily, it's actually amazingly hard to write a foolproof 100% effective heuristics engine unit. (Engine, simply put, is just a word we use to describe the little bit that drives the computer virus detector and compares files to the database of known infection agents) A lot more aggressive heuristic scanner may well find large numbers of so called "False Positives" i. e. data files that are actually totally innocent but appear to be they might change other data files, the less hostile ones might miss data that really are viruses. A method of heuristic examination is for the anti-virus program to decompile the suspicious program, and then evaluate the source code included within. In reality heuristics work quite well for a few types of viruses, such as Macro Infections, but not so well for other types. However, they are really a reasonable try out at providing protection against currently unknown viruses. The advantage to the method is the actual fact that there surely is no time period when the computer is not guarded after specific infections are released. The drawbacks include the fact that false positives may occur and some infections might not exactly be identified during the length of a check. The first heuristic machines were released to identify DOS viruses in 1989. However, nowadays there are heuristic engines for practically all classes of viruses.

2. Footprint or Signature-based diagnosis of virus program - A pathogen signature is a particular routine of 'bits' or information within a pathogen that looks in no other document or program in the world, aside from that virus. This technique is the most frequent method used to identify viruses and incorrect positives are very uncommon. It compares the virus footprint against a library of known footprints which match viruses. A footprint is a routine in the data contained in a file. Like this, trojans must be determined as trojans, and then added to the library of footprints. The advantage to this method lies in the fact that false positives are incredibly rare. The disadvantage to the method is the fact that there is a time period between when the virus is released to when the catalogue of known footprints is modified. During this time period, the trojan will not be recognized and could infect your computer.

How do antivirus programs rate possible risk?

Antivirus programs use a threat level index to determine what type of action to take. If this program is adware only, most antivirus programs will display a dialog pack to inform the user why a program or related data file associated with an adware program was discovered. If the discovered object is posing security and personal privacy risks, the hazard level is medium, high, or severe. The threat level ratings by antivirus programs aren't yet. Some antivirus programs might not discover or even scan for tracking cookies. A few of these are installed when respectable software downloaded from third-party websites is bundled with another installer from an organization that is known to have a spyware and adware or adware business.

Quarantine and Phony Positives in Antivirus Programs

Antivirus programs work also by quarantining suspect and malware files. This process is to prevent the offending stuff from doing any damage in the machine and to permit the end-user to restore back again a quarantined subject to its original location if it's found to be a false positive.

A incorrect positive detection is when a malware signature recognized an uninfected record or process. In some instances, a incorrect positive can cause a system never to to boot or run properly. If another program is influenced by the phony detection, the system will run normally, however, not the program that the Antivirus have falsely recognized and removed.

Types of Antivirus Programs WHICH ARE Available

On the next page there is a list, in alphabetical order, of some the firms who provide Antivirus programs and the websites on which they are supported.

Antivirus Software

Now which you have a basic knowledge of how an antivirus program works and why you need one, here are some types of three of the primary antivirus programs available today. The primary three that this report will discuss is Norton, Bitdefender, and Kaspersky. There will vary types of antivirus programs available for each manufacturer and the next information will discuss these types of programs.

Norton by Symantec

Norton offers 3 antivirus programs;

• Norton Antivirus
• Norton Internet Security
• Norton 360

Here is a complete list of what Norton by Symantec offers because of their product line. (Symantec)

Core Protection

• Blocks viruses, spyware and adware, Trojan horses, worms, bots, and rootkits
• Defends against hackers with quiet two-way firewall
• Pulse revisions every 5 - 15 minutes for up-to-the minute protection

Advanced Protection

• Norton Bootable Restoration Tool repairs, restores and boots greatly afflicted, unbootable PCs
• Leverages cloud-based online brains for real-time detection of threats
• Download Insight proactively warns of potential dangers in recently downloaded data and applications before you mount or run them
• Guards against Web episodes that exploit software vulnerabilities
• Stops dangers unrecognized by traditional antivirus techniques
• Filters unwanted email with professional-strength antispam
• Helps keep your children safe online with parental settings (Microsoft Glass windows only)

Networking

• Helps secure and screen your home network
• Automatically secures your personal computer when attaching to public cordless networks

Identity Protection

• Block hackers from being able to access your computer
• Blocks phishing websites and authenticates respected sites
• Secures, stores, and manages login and personal information
• Prevents hackers from eavesdropping and stealing information as you type
• Identifies unsafe Sites in your search results

Backup and Restore

• Automatically saves important data files locally or even to anchored online storage
• Restores lost data files and folders

PC Tuning

• Optimizes the hard drive to release disk space
• Optimizes Personal computer performance with disk cleanup
• Provides clear perception into recent Computer activities to help prevent slowdowns
• Optimizes software performance with one-click

Support

• Free email, talk, or cellphone support
• Automatically detects and fixes common Laptop or computer problems

The pursuing is a table of what exactly the three antivirus programs from Norton offer.

Bitdefender

Bitdefender's products for antivirus software is;

Bitdefender Antivirus

Bitdefender Internet Security

Bitdefender Total Security

Here is a set of what Bitdefender offers for there products. (Bitdefender)

Protection

• Antivirus
• Protects against trojans and other malware with industry-leading technology
• Multi-layered proactive protection against new and anonymous threats
• Antispyware
• Blocks hidden programs that keep track of your online activities
• Antiphishing
• Blocks web pages that try to grab your credit credit card data
• Antispam
• Stops unwanted e-mails from attaining your Inbox
• Firewall
• Automatically secures your web interconnection wherever you are
• Helps prevent outsiders form accessing your Wi-Fi network

Performance

• Special Operating Modes
• Game Setting reduces system weight & postpones scans
• Laptop Mode prolongs power supply life
• Tune-up
• Removes unnecessary documents & registry entries, for optimized performance

Privacy

• IM Encryption
• Keeps your discussions private on Yahoo! And MSN Messenger
• File Vault
• Locks up confidential files within an encrypted vault
• File Shredder
• Ensures that no traces of removed sensitive files remain on your PC

Control

• Parental Control
• Blocks access to incorrect websites and e-mail
• Limits kids' access to the Internet, video games, etc. . . to specific times
• Home Network
• Manages the security of your entire network from an individual location
• Data Backup
• Automatically backs up data files and folders

The pursuing is a stand of just what the three antivirus programs from Bitdefender offer.

Kaspersky

Kaspersky's products for antivirus software is;

Kaspersky Antivirus

Kaspersky Internet Security

Here is a set of what Kaspersky offers for there product line. (Kaspersky)

Protection from. . .

• Viruses and spyware
• Infected websites
• Hacker attacks
• Spam and phishing
• Identity theft

Features Comparison

• Virus and vulnerability scanner
• Proactive safety against programs predicated on their behaviour
• Restriction of access to private data by suspicious programs
• Application control
• Safe run setting (sandbox) to check questionable programs

Network Protection

• Two-way personal firewall
• Secure wireless relationships in public areas

Email Protection

• Real-time scanning of email
• Anti-spam, Anti-phishing

Web Protection

• Virtual computer keyboard to safely enter in sensitive data
• Removal of Internet activity (record, cookies, etc)
• Parental Control

As you can view from the previous lists, there is a difference in what the manufacturers of these programs offer. They all offer disease and spyware on their basic applications. If you want more features/security you are going to have to spend the excess money to acquire those features/protection.

All of these versions of Antivirus software offer real-time safeguard and do regular scans. Kind of a at the rear of the scenes scan. Which is a good feature to own, knowing that most users just want to buy there to do its thing, similar to knowing it is safeguarding you but don't want to deal with it.

Norton and Kaspersky offer safeguard for one season. At the end of that season you have to invest more money before you obtain more revisions from them. The good thing about Bitdefender is that whenever you purchase a registration from them you obtain it for 2 years. So for the price tag on one year from Norton or Kaspersky, you get 24 months from Bitdefender. That's a good deal right? 2 for the price of 1? If you factor in how the program actually works you may begin to think that it's not that good of a deal. Bitdefender is a good Antivirus program, but it's not really the type of program you want to utilize if your not so computer savvy.

Bitdefender has a great deal of features that could shut down your personal computer from having any network traffic whatsoever. Also there is a known concern with Bitdefender and Microsoft's Service Load up 2 for Vista. In the event that you try and install SP2 while Bitdefender is installed on your machine, your computer will loop from installing and upgrade and restarting over and over again. Also the install, of Bitdefender, takes about 30 to 40 minutes from begin to completion. Who would like to sit around and watch a program install for that amount of time.

As explained before Norton offers cover for only 1 year. Norton accocunts for for only having twelve months of safeguard by the how user-friendly it is. The new editions of Norton (2010 editions) install in under a minute. Hard to believe? It's true, it does install within 1 minute.

The features on these new variations are extremely user friendly. Even if you are an initial time computer user, you'll be able to utilize these programs. Prior version of Norton were, as some would call, "A recourse hog", and therefore while Norton was working it made your personal computer run very sluggish. That's not the situation any more. These new version uses less than 8mb of storage. Seriously that is true, you don't even understand that Norton is owning a scan in the background.

Why Viruses WILL OFTEN Elude Antivirus Programs

A stealth pathogen is the one that conceals the changes it creates. This is done by firmly taking control of system functions that interpret documents or system sectors. When other applications request data from portions of the machine improved by the virus, the infection studies back the appropriate, unchanged data, instead of the harmful code. For this to occur, the pathogen must be actively within the memory space.

It is important to learn that many viruses not only conceal, but encrypt the initial data they have infected. Some patients might use traditional DOS commands such as FDISK/MBR or SYS to fix the problem, an instance that will make things much worse. If the computer virus is overwritten with FDISK/MBR, the hard drive will haven't any way to recognize what's in the partition stand and cannot gain access to the encrypted data without aid of the pathogen. For this reason, anti-virus software is preferred to eliminate a stealth pathogen rather than home maintenance.

Virus coders mainly use the stealth method of elude disease scanners. Those which have not been designed to do so, because the malicious code is rather new or the user's anti-virus software isn't up to date, are often described as stealth viruses as well. The stealth approach is a adding factor to why most anti-virus programs function best when the machine is booted from a clean Disc or floppy disk. Using this method, the infection is not able to assume control of the machine and the changes it creates can be open and immediately dealt with.

In basic, a stealth disease will conceal itself in system storage every time an application scanner is run. It utilizes various ways to hide any changes so that when the scanner searches for altered sections, the disease redirects it to any area which has the clean, uninfected data. A far more advanced anti-virus program can detect a stealth computer virus by looking for proof changes within system areas along with areas that are usually more susceptible to harm, it doesn't matter how it is booted.

Some cannot even be detected by condition of-the-art anti-virus software. These "stealth" infections often assault the antivirus software itself. Others, called "mutation engine" infections, elude the immune system systems and create mutated varieties of themselves, multiplying hundreds, even a large number of times. Each new mutated form differs. Even whether it's detected, only that particular form can be eradicated. All others must be individually located and killed.

Even those you'd least be prepared to be vulnerable-computer software companies themselves--are not immune. Lotus Development Corp. , for just one, was red-faced at a recent conference, when a virus contaminated and crashed the computer network it was using. In this specific case, the disease functioned like a series of letter bombs. Each time a user opened his / her email the server crashed.

In some extreme cases, the sole solution is to "burn" (in other words, reformat) the afflicted disks and start over. Reformatting the disks wipes out the pathogen (unless, of course, it connects itself to the format program).

The problems don't automatically stop there. For example, what if the computer virus was backed up accidently on a backup disk? However, you then recover both the disease and the nice programs and data. On its appointed particular date after that it comes alive and creates the same problems as before. Since this circumstance doesn't even cross most bankers' thoughts unless they are "burned" in the past, it is all too common.

Norton Antivirus

Norton Internet Security -

Norton 360

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