Antivirus protection software detects and blocks malware that could infiltrate enterprise’s digital systems in order to steal, abuse or corrupt data. It can be used to protect a variety of devices including laptops, desktops and mobile devices like smartphones and tablets and even connected home gadgets like printers and smart TVs.
Modern antivirus applications employ multiple detection methods to block a single virus. Signature-based detection is a popular method. This involves keeping a database of distinct fragments known as malware signatures and scanning files to find matches. If hackers alter malicious code to evade detection by signatures, they are deemed polymorphic, and require more sophisticated detection methods.
Heuristic-based detection is a more sophisticated method. It attempts to identify malware by recognizing patterns that are specific to malicious code. For instance, changing and deleting large amounts of data, changing settings for other programs, or remotely connecting to computers. Heuristic-based detection may cause security alert fatigue and should be carefully calibrated to avoid false positives.
Look for a powerful antivirus program that is able to handle polymorphic malware, ransomware memory attacks, and other advanced threats. It should also be easy to deploy across a wide variety of devices, including Macs and PCs, and also work with different operating systems. It shouldn’t use too many system resources as this can cause the device to slow down or crash.