2021 Secure Your Digital Footprint Roadmap - Next Stop, Antivirus & Antimalware!

This month we explore how antivirus and antimalware help secure your digital footprint by scanning, monitoring, and detecting threats to your devices.

Virus versus Malware

All viruses are malware, but not all types of malware are viruses “Difference between antivirus and Antimalware + do I need both?” 2020. A virus is a type of malware that is self-replicating and spreads by replicating itself into files on a device that results in the modification of programs or files by inserting its own code.  Malware is the general name for all malicious software or code and can have different characteristics.

Antivirus versus Antimalware

Antivirus has a reference library of small pieces of the coding for all known computer viruses. The antivirus scans your device using this known database to detect threats. Antimalware learns your machine and looks for unusual events and activities to proactively isolate potential threats. Antimalware can identify threats it has never seen where antivirus scans for only known threats.

The good news here is that most paid for antivirus services contain both technologies.

Which devices should you have Antivirus/Antimalware on?

You should have this technology installed on all devices that can run an antivirus/antimalware software.

Antivirus/Antimalware Recommendations

There are free versions out there but keep in mind these free versions do not offer complete protection. I would recommend investing into a good antivirus/antimalware solution. Here are some tips when looking for a good solution:

·         Real time – should be able to detect threats in real time.

·         Filtering – should be able to filter internet traffic and block suspicious servers and websites.

·         Threat Removal – should be able to isolate and remove a threat when detected.

·         Scans – should be able to scan and remove all known threats when detected.

·         Automatic Updates – should be able to update automatically to keep the database of malware current.

References

Difference between antivirus and Antimalware + do I need both? (2020, August 5). Panda Security Mediacenter. https://www.pandasecurity.com/en/mediacenter/malware/difference-between-antivirus-antimalware/

Vigderman, A., & Turner, G. (2021, March 11). Do you still need antivirus protection software in 2021? Security.org. https://www.security.org/antivirus/do-you-need-antivirus/