What is an antivirus?

Anti-Virus is a computer program that protects the device from unwanted programs, infected files and various malicious viruses.

To understand what an antivirus is, you should determine the scope of its work and the principles of action.

Antivirus tasks

The main tasks that are put before software anti-virus software are:

• the penetration of infected information into the computer system;
• minimization of consequences from viruses;
• detection of the source of the virus;
• delete and neutralize malicious files.

The antivirus database is the basis for storing virus signatures. This database needs periodic updates to keep the antivirus current.

Types of antivirus

Depending on the operating conditions, the antivirus can be:

• constant action - a means of scanning the flow of various data on the Internet, mail filters, etc.;
• periodic actions are the means working on demand, intended for a single scan of the working system.

A set of antiviruses with one core is an antivirus complex. It is effective for working with infected files, and is also effective to prevent them from getting into the computer system.

For other concepts and terms, see Definitions.