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Continuing our "Cyber Essentials" blog series targeted at protecting yourself against cyber threats, today's blog topic covers Anti-Virus.
Today's guest blog contributor is Eric Varela. Eric is a student here at CSU Channel Islands majoring in Information Technology with a minor in Security Systems Engineering.
Define Anti-Virus: Anti-virus
is a security program you install on your computer or mobile device to protect
it from getting infected by ‘malware’. The term ‘malware’ is an encompassing
phrase for any type of malicious software, such as worms, Trojans, viruses, and
spyware. (The term malware comes from combining the words malicious software.) If
your computer has become infected by malware, a cyber-attacker could
potentially capture your keystrokes, steal your personal and private documents,
or use your computer to attack others.
(Tip: You can purchase anti-virus software as a standalone
solution, or as part of a security package.)
How Anti-Virus Works:
There are two ways anti-virus software identifies malware: signature and behavior detection. Signature detection works like the human immune
system. It scans your computer for specific characteristics or signatures of
programs known to be malicious. It does this by referring to a dictionary of
known malware. If something on your computer matches a pattern in the
dictionary, the program attempts to neutralize it. Like the human immune
system, the dictionary approach requires updates, (like when humans get flu-shots),
to protect against new strains of malware.
(Tip: Anti-virus can only protect against what it recognizes
as harmful. Update daily.)
Anti-Virus Tips:
- Obtain anti-virus software only from known, trusted sources and vendors. It is a common ploy of cyber attackers to distribute fake anti-virus programs that are really malware.
- Make sure your anti-virus automatically scans portable media, such as USB drives, and ensure real-time protection is on.
- Pay attention to on-screen warnings and alerts generated by your anti-virus software.
- Do not disable or uninstall your anti-virus software. Disabling your anti-virus software will expose you to unnecessary risk.
- Do not install multiple anti-virus programs on your computer at the same time. Doing so will most likely cause the programs to conflict with each other.
- Learn to recognize the warnings that your anti-virus software produces. Cyber attackers can create malicious websites that post realistic, but fake, anti-virus warnings and offer to “fix” your computer.
Derived from sans.org
