At a glance
To protect yourself from viruses, nothing beats antivirus software. Yet traditional antivirus programs have plenty of flaws. How can you guard against them?
To protect yourself from viruses, nothing beats ... antivirus software. Yet traditional antivirus programs have plenty of flaws.
How can you guard against them?
Whether it's the computer at home, the laptop at school or the computer you use for remote work, using a PC is now part and parcel of our lives. But wherever there's a computer, there are computer viruses. The latest known viruses are programmed to travel from one computer to another without any human intervention. But does that make them infallible?
Having antivirus software is a must. But it's always good to know its weaknesses before installing it.
Detection methods: the main flaws of antivirus software
There are several ways to detect a virus. One of the biggest flaws of antivirus software is therefore not being equipped with the most effective or the most recent detection methods.
First method: the scanner
The scanner is the most common method for detecting a virus. When your antivirus scans your device, it searches through the lines of code looking for a pattern that might match a virus signature.
But this method has two major problems:
- False positives: raising a false alarm if a "healthy" code pattern is very close to a virus signature;
- Missing threats: if the virus is new, and its pattern isn't (yet) recognised by the antivirus, it could simply slip through. Hence the importance of regularly updating your antivirus, so it stays on top of the fight against malicious software.
Second method: CRC
CRC - Cyclic Redundancy Check - is a program that detects changes made to files. It is particularly focused on *.exe files, the "executable" files found on Windows.
The problem with CRC is that it can only detect changes if it already knows the base files and systems of your computer. In other words: a virus present on the computer before a CRC is installed will not be detected.
CRC + Scanner + Verifier + Heuristic analysis = good antivirus software
The best antivirus software will be able to use both the scanner and CRC for satisfactory results. But that's not all. For the best results, you also need:
- A "Verifier" program: this program carries out an in-depth analysis of every detected code, to make sure it really is a virus (thereby compensating for the scanner's role);
- Heuristic analysis, whose approach is similar to medicine. This analysis detects or confirms the presence of a virus by looking for the symptoms or characteristic behaviours of a virus on your computer.
Without these technical add-ons, a virus could escape detection.
Other antivirus flaws: conflicts on your computer
Installing and running antivirus software has an impact on your computer's memory as well as on your hard drive. The scanning process can therefore create conflicts: a slower computer and even connection issues.
These conflicts might tempt you to switch programs or install more than one antivirus. Be careful: antivirus programs can compete with each other and end up giving unsatisfactory results.
Stick to using a (good) antivirus or check compatibility between different pieces of software before installing them.
Phishing, ransomware ... Attacks to keep in mind
If you've read our article on the main cybersecurity threats, you'll already know these terms: phishing extracts your personal data, while ransomware is a virus that locks your computer and holds it for ransom.
These two threats are everywhere on the web. And your antivirus needs to protect you from them. If you install antivirus software - whether a free antivirus or a paid one -, don't hesitate to check that these settings are properly covered.
A package to fill the gaps left by traditional antivirus software
By subscribing to Safe & Connected assistance, you can request an IT protection system. It includes:
- a software kit that fills the gaps left by traditional antivirus programs: a phishblock, a data scrambler, an anti-ransomware tool ...
- a monitoring kit, to watch over all the data you want to protect
- an alert system, to receive notifications in case of a hacking risk
Safe & Connected Assistance is available 24/7.
Once subscribed, this service is activated on 5 IT licences.
To find out more about our assistance, feel free to visit our Safe & Connected product page!
Article written in collaboration with We are the Words.
