

To identify a malicious attack, an antivirus software will run scans comparing the files stored in the operating system of its host computer with a database containing the distinctive features (or 'signatures') of previously detected instances of 'malware'. The main purpose of AV software is to is to detect, neutralize or eradicate malware (or 'malicious software) from computers and devices, even before the system becomes infected. That same year, McAfee released the first iteration of its wildly popular 'antimalware' suite, VirusScan. One of the pioneering companies was G Data, a German company that in 1987 developed a product to safeguard Atari computers. The first commercial antivirus software programs hit the stores shortly after. Prior to the 1980s, some experiments had been conducted with programs able to automatically spread between computers, but it was during this decade when the first viruses capable of deleting data or disabling systems were created and launched. The history of antivirus software is, of course, linked to the history of computer viruses or 'malware'. But, do we take advantage of all the possibilities that AV software offers? This article reviews the main features of this type of security software that you should be aware of to make the most of them. Users are familiar with the updates that are periodically executed. Nowadays, it’s hard to find a personal or corporate computers that doesn’t run some sort of antivirus software.
