Antiviruses are important pieces of software that every device connected to the internet should have, they scan for viruses and malware and eliminate them from computerised devices. Ensuring that you have antivirus software on your devices can reduce the possibility of you being targeted by internet scams, which is always advisable.
What is An Antivirus
Back in 1971, the first computer virus infected a mainframe computer called a PDP-10 mainframe. This virus was called a Creeper virus, To combat this American computer programmer Ray Tomlinson created a computer program that he called a reaper designed to delete the virus, he called the program he created Reaper. Whilst the Reaper was actually a virus itself, not an antivirus it paved the way for antivirus software to come in the future.
Antiviruses are computer programs you can download on internet-connected devices that detect and eliminate viruses and malware from computerised systems. Some antivirus programs allow for automatic scans where the software will scan the computer for viruses and malware at predetermined times that users have set. Most antivirus software that allows for automatic updates requires payment from users, if users decide not to pay for their antivirus they will likely have to perform manual scans on their computer. This increases the likelihood of people forgetting to perform scans on their computers meaning that their computers may be more vulnerable to being infected by viruses and malware. Additionally, users are less likely to detect such malware.
How Can My Computer Become Infected With Malware Or A Computer Virus?
- Phishing/Email Scams: Phishing is where scammers send out fake emails to people claiming to be from a legitimate business or someone they know. Scammers attempt to get people to click links in the emails they are sending out, if links are clicked in a phishing email malware will be downloaded onto the victim’s computer. Hackers may include keylogging malware which allows hackers to see every keystroke that users have made. meaning that hackers can look through the data and find information that looks like usernames or passwords which can allow hackers access to restricted accounts.
- Dodgy USBs: If you find a USB drive lying around in a public place you should never plug it into any of your devices as it could include malware or a computer. Hackers have been known to “lose” USB drives on purpose because of the fact that they have installed malware or viruses with the intent of infecting people’s computer systems. If you have any investment accounts logged in on computers that are infected with malware your financials could be at risk, if you lose money as a result of a scam you should contact your bank and investment fraud lawyers to maximise the chances of you getting your money back.
- Infected Websites: Some websites will infect viruses and malware onto people’s computers once they have clicked on the website. If you have an antivirus program installed on your computer you may be warned by your antivirus to avoid this website before your computer takes you to the website. This can allow people to think again about visiting the website in question meaning that fewer computers are infected by viruses coming from infected websites.
- Old Software: Hackers find vulnerabilities in software over time and app developers attempt to remove any security gaps in their software with updates, if you are not updating your software you are naturally more vulnerable to malware and viruses.
Conclusion
Antiviruses protect computer devices from computer viruses and malware and should be one of the first things that people download onto their devices.
