Introduction to

Computing
Applications

Topic: Anti-Virus

Instructor:

Sir Javaid

Course Code: CSI-321

Bs.Cs 1st Semester, Evening

Group #
3rd

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Anti-virus software:-
Antivirus software is used to detect and remove viruses, worms and adware etc. Antivirus
software contains information about different known viruses. Antivirus software runs in the
background all the time. It alerts the computer user when any virus is detected.
Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the
name. However, with the proliferation of other malware, antivirus software started to protect
from other computer threats.

Examples:-
Some examples of antivirus software are as follows:
Symantec Antivirus
McAfee
AVG
Bit Defender
Kaspersky NOD32

Managing an Antivirus:-
Antivirus software is very important for the safety of a computer system. It protects the data and
files stored on the computer from different security threats. The latest antivirus program must be
installed on the computer.
The antivirus software should be managed properly to detect and remove viruses, worms and
adware from the computer system. Many new viruses are created and spread continuously. The
antivirus software must be updated regularly in order to protect the computer properly

Virus Definitions /Updates:-

A virus definition is also called virus signature Virus definitions contain the information about
different security threats tee virus, worm and adware The antivirus software identifies different
viruses using the virus definitions while scanning the computer The file containing virus
definitions is automatically installed when the antivirus software is installed on the computer.

Importance of Virus Definitions/Updates:-

Virus definitions / updates are very important to protect the computer from security threats. The
virus definitions must be updated regularly. It allows the antivirus software to detect and remove
the latest viruses and other security threats. The antivirus software cannot detect the latest
security threats if the virus definitions are not updated. Most antivirus softwares provide an
Auto-Update feature to download the latest virus definitions

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Protection from Virus:-
Virus infects computer system if Antivirus software is not installed. Latest Antivirus software
should be installed on computer to protect it from viruses. A computer system can be protected
from viruses by following these precautions:
1. The latest anti-virus should be installed on the computer.
2. The antivirus software must be upgraded regularly.
3. The floppy disk should be scanned for viruses before use.
4. Junk or unknown emails should not be opened.
5. Unauthorized or pirated software should not be installed on the computer.
6. An important way of protection against virus is the use of backup of data. The backup is
used if the virus deletes data or modifies it.
7. Freeware and shareware software from the Internet normally contain viruses. It is
important to check the software before using them.

Example of Antivirus:-
Symantec:
Symantec Corporation is the largest organization that develops security software for computers
Symantec End-Point Protection is popular and powerful antivirus software. It protects computer
from different types of security threats

McAfee:
McAfee is an American organization that develops antivirus programs. It developed an antivirus
program called McAfee Virus Scan. It protects the computer from viruses. It automatically
detects and removes viruses. It blocks adware before it installs on the computer and removes
existing adware. It also protects the computer from hackers. It can also check the emails for
viruses. It is very popular antivirus software in the world.

AVG:
AVG stands for Antivirus Guard. It is an antivirus program developed by AVG Technologies. It
is used to protect the computer from latest viruses worms and other threats. The AVG Free
edition is also available that can be downloaded from the Internet. The users can use the free
edition without any cost. However, the free edition does not provide full protection. AVG has
become very popular antivirus software in the world.

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Signature-based detection:-
Traditional antivirus software relies heavily upon signatures to identify malware.
Substantially, when a malware sample arrives in the hands of an antivirus firm, it is analysed by
malware researchers or by dynamic analysis systems. Then, once it is determined to be a
malware, a proper signature of the file is extracted and added to the signatures database of the
antivirus software.

Real-time protection:-
Real-time protection, on-access scanning, background guard, resident shield, auto-protect, and
other synonyms refer to the automatic protection provided by most antivirus, anti-spyware, and
other antimalware programs. This monitors computer systems for suspicious activity such as
computer viruses, spyware, adware, and other malicious objects. Real-time protection detects
threats in opened files and scans apps in real-time as they are installed on the device. When
inserting a CD, opening an email, or browsing the web, or when a file already on the computer is
opened or executed.

New Viruses:-
Anti-virus programs are not always effective against new viruses, even those that use non-
signature-based methods that should detect new viruses. The reason for this is that the virus
designers test their new viruses on the major anti-virus applications to make sure that they are
not detected before releasing them into the wild.
Some new viruses, particularly ransom-ware, use polymorphic code to avoid detection by virus
scanners. Jerome Segura, a security analyst with ParetoLogic, explained
It's something that they miss a lot of the time because this type of [ransom-ware virus] comes
from sites that use a polymorphism, which means they basically randomize the file they send you
and it gets by well-known antivirus products very easily. I've seen people firsthand getting
infected, having all the pop-ups and yet they have antivirus software running and it's not
detecting anything. It actually can be pretty hard to get rid of, as well, and you're never really
sure if it's really gone. When we see something like that usually we advise to reinstall the
operating system or reinstall backups.
A proof of concept virus has used the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) to avoid detection from
anti-virus software. The potential success of this involves bypassing the CPU in order to make it
much harder for security researchers to analyse the inner workings of such malware.

Damaged Files:-
If a file has been infected by a computer virus, anti-virus software will attempt to remove the
virus code from the file during disinfection, but it is not always able to restore the file to its

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undamaged state. In such circumstances, damaged files can only be restored from existing
backups or shadow copies; installed software that is damaged requires re-installation.

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