Choosing Anti-virus Software: What to Look For?

Choosing the right anti-virus program is a lot like buying a new car. They all basically do the same thing, but depending on your budget and needs you might prefer one package over another. Regardless of your personal circumstances, there are some basic functions which should be considered the bare minimum in your anti-virus search. We'll begin with support. The support I'm speaking of comes in the form of consistent, daily definition and program updates. Anti-virus software is only as effective as the definitions it uses, so with experts estimating upwards of 100 new threats discovered every day, an anti-virus program that is not updated daily will become useless very quickly.

Along with support comes the need to configure automatic updates and scheduled scans. Most programs offer these two features as part of their basic coverage, but users should confirm just to make sure. It's not uncommon for an anti-virus program to go improperly configured while the computer owner is completely unaware of the problem. If updates and scans are scheduled to take place automatically it increases the security of the machine.

Real-time and on-demand protection are another big consideration. Real-time protection means that your anti-virus program runs in the background whenever the computer is on. It constantly monitors any incoming network traffic to identify threats, and scans individual files as they are accessed by the user. Part of good real-time protection includes integrated email scanning for both incoming and outgoing email. Most anti-virus programs offer email support for POP3 and IMAP clients, but some of the more advanced ones offer web mail scanning. Web mail scanning may be something a user can live without, depending on his usage, since normal real-time scanning monitors incoming traffic.

On-demand protection allows the user to scan specific files or folders at a moment's notice without submitting to a full system scan. This feature may not seem to be important, but it's very helpful to the user who takes computer security seriously. On-demand protection makes it possible to scan an archived file before it's opened, check a music or video download, or scan a CD obtained from an unknown source. If a user can perform these tasks on demand, they are more likely to do so.

Finally, the ability to use heuristic analysis and to scan compressed files are two more features that should be part of your anti-virus software. One form of heuristic analysis, known as statistical evaluation, involves scanning suspect code and comparing it to that of already known threats. Another form is called MultiCriteria Analysis which involves executing the code in a virtual environment in order to observe its behavior. Code which results in the over writing of files for example, would be flagged as a possible threat.

Compressed files pose an additional challenge to computer security because malware authors can hide their work in multiple layers of compression. Opening a compressed file that contains malware could trigger execution of the malicious code without the user actually running any additional software. If your anti-virus software can't scan compressed files you might want to consider a switch.

If you are looking for anti-virus software, spend the time to do some research. Compare the various packages side by side, including features, price, and system requirements. Then ask around, especially among those whose computer skills are a bit more advanced than yours. The right package will give you adequate protection at a price you can live with.