Antivuris Programs Essay Example for Free

Antivuris Programs EssayToday, people assert on computers to create, store, and manage critical information, many times via a home computer network. Information communicable over networks has a higher degree of security risk than information kept in a users home or company premises. Thus, it is crucial that they take measures to protect their computers and data from loss, damage, and disparage resulting from computer security risks. Antivirus programs atomic number 18 an good way to protect a computer against viruses.An antivirus program protects a computer against viruses by identifying and removing any computer virus found in memory, on storage media, or on incoming files. When you purchase a new computer, it often includes antivirus software. Antivirus programs work by scanning for programs that act to modify the boot program, the operating system, and other programs that normally are read from but not modified. In addition, many antivirus programs mechanically scan fil es downloaded from the Web, e-mail attachments, opened files, and all types of removable media inserted in the computer (Karanos 201-205). i Technique that antivirus programs use to identify a virus is to look for virus signature tunes, or virus definitions, which are known specific patterns of virus code. According to Shelly and Cashman (Antivirus Programs), many vendors of antivirus programs allow registered users to update virus signature files automatically from the Web at no cost for a specified time. Updating the Antivirus programs signature files regularly is important, because it will download any new virus definitions that have been added since the last update. Methods that guarantee a computer or network is safe from computer viruses simply do not exist. Installing, updating, and using an antivirus program, though, is an effective technique to safeguard your computer from loss.