Choosing Anti-virus Software
By
Eric Koshinsky
There are a number of
companies that provide software solutions to
virus, Trojan, and internet worm attacks. It can
be really confusing when you compare three
different software packages from five different
companies trying to find the one that is right
for you. With that in mind, there are several
very important things that you need to consider
when choosing antivirus software:
1) How often/fast are the virus definitions
updated. You want the answer to be "As soon as a
new threat is found".
2) Are the virus definitions updated
automatically by the software? You want the
answer to be "YES".
3) Can you configure the software to check
for updates every time you go online? You want
the answer to be "YES".
4) Is the software "smart" so that it can
find viruses it doesn't even know about yet? You
want the answer to be "YES".
5) Can it scan incoming and outgoing email
automatically? You want the answer to be "YES".
6) Can you configure it once to perform
automatic scans of your entire computer on a
regular schedule? You want the answer to be
"YES".
7) Does it provide a way to 'clean out' any
viruses etc. that are found? You want the answer
to be "YES".
8) Are upgrades to the software package
performed automatically, regularly, and at no
cost? You want the answer to be "YES".
There are a few major players in the field
that you should know about in order to make an
informed decision about which antivirus software
solution to buy and use. There are Norton
Antivirus, Trend Micro's PC-cillin, and McAfee
Antivirus. Sophos and Grisoft’s AVG are also
very god choices. All of the top antivirus
solutions will provide each of the eight points
above (and more).
There are quite a few smaller players on the
market as well. In many cases they are quite
good. However, most of the smaller players in
this market don't have the resources (yet) to
keep up with constantly changing virus threats.
For now I would recommend staying away from
them. Not because they are poor products, but
simply because they aren't able to consistently
provide each of the eight requirements above.
The first few days after a new virus appears
are often when it can do the most damage. The
sooner you get an update the better. The big 3
will provide automatic updates to new threats
usually within days of a new virus being found.
Sophos and AVG are similar. Smaller players may
take several days to provide updates, which are
often not automatic.
This should be enough basic information to
help you on your way to choosing a good
antivirus software. If you’d like to learn more
first, there is plenty to read at
http://www.antivirus-report.com
Learn about
antivirus software & how to protect your pc
against trojan horses, spyware, computer
viruses, etc. in the future.
Nortons anti virus
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