Viruses are capable of causing severe damage to your system and computer. They could steal your personal information and corrupt your files and even cause you to lose data. This can lead you to identity theft, financial fraud and frauds that involve phishing.
How does antivirus software detect viruses that could be? Antivirus programs are able to scan the files and codes that are incoming and checking them against an existing database of malware. These databases are updated continuously making it possible for antivirus programs to identify new threats rapidly.
A virus is often detected by an antivirus program looking at the digital fingerprint or signature. Every virus has a unique digital fingerprint which sets it apart from other programs and files. The signature is created when specific bits of the code of an infection are compared against a database of known malware and, if a match is detected, it is flagged. Antivirus scanners can also employ an algorithmic analysis to study the behavior of a file, or its suspicious characteristics. This can identify patterns or trends in files that may be a sign of a computer virus. For instance, deleting large amounts data, monitoring restricted keys or remotely connecting with equipment are just a few examples.
Certain antivirus programs employ the sandboxing feature in addition to the signature-based or heuristic type of detection. Sandboxing allows a virus to run in a virtual space and observe how it acts in order to see if it is doing what it’s supposed to do. If a virus is caught and quarantined, it will be removed and deleted from the computer immediately.