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Understanding Antivirus Software: How It Works
Antivirus (AV) solutions have come a long way since they first appeared. In the beginning, they were simple programs designed to detect viruses — hence the name.
Over time, however, they’ve evolved into complete security suites, commonly known as Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP).
These new suites don’t just detect, isolate, and remove malicious code with their antivirus engine; they also include advanced threat prevention and detection features, such as:
• Ransomware protection
• Host Intrusion Prevention Systems (HIPS)
• File encryption
• Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
• Firewall
• Malicious website detection and much more
Despite this evolution, most people still call these security suites “antivirus,” even though detecting viruses is only a small part of what they do.
The term “antimalware” would be more precise, but since “antivirus” is so widely used, I’ll stick with it in this article for clarity.
It’s important to note that AV software alone is no longer enough to protect our devices and accounts.
However, it’s still an additional security layer in a Defense in Depth strategy…
