A well-designed antivirus program can prevent malware infections and eliminate threats that exist or attacks on individual computer devices, networks, or entire IT systems. The programs scan websites and files, installed software and user information to look for malware types that are known to exist They also track day-to-day program behavior to identify potential threats and alert the user.
Most antivirus protections offer multiple scanning methods that include scheduled, on-access and quick scans. On-access scans seek out malware in directories of the operating system, common file areas, and other common locations on startup. Scheduled scans let you create a daily schedule, a weekly schedule or a monthly one to run a complete system scan at a specific time. Quick scans usually last about a minute or so and look at commonly used areas of your computer, for example temporary files or the directory of your operating system.
Some programs use heuristic detection to detect malware by looking for similar tendencies or patterns. This is a more sophisticated kind of virus detection than signature-based detection, and it is able to detect malware that other programs do not detect. These advanced forms of antivirus detection may not work as well for small businesses, as they are often prone to false positives–identifying secure parts of files and programs as potentially harmful.
Hackers are targeting businesses more frequently as the business world becomes more interconnected. They are doing this to steal consumer information or to build a reputation through hacktivism. This is when hackers disrupt professional systems to achieve political or social goals. All businesses should have antivirus protection in place to shield them from cyberattacks.