Different kinds of Anti-Virus software

There are two kinds of anti-virus software, stand alone and memory resident. Stand alone has to be run and the user chooses a file, part of the pc to scan for threats. If a threat is found the user can then delete the problem file or quarantine the file and then try to repair it to return it to it’s original state. Memory resident software does the same as stand alone but is constantly running to protect the users pc, if a threat is found a screen will come up and prompt the user to take action. Most resident anti-virus packages will also scan email and webpages for threats. The anti-virus packages can be constantly updated to ensure that they are protecting against the newest and most recently discovered threats.

Internet security

In the first section of this unit i have learned that there are many different dangers to using a computer. Not every danger to a persons pc is a virus, there are also Trojans and worms which act differently from a virus.

 For example a Trojan horse will hide in another program or file and sneak into a system when the file is opened or the program is executed. Trojans do not replicate like viruses do but they steal data and information from the infected computer eg passwords, bank details. Worms are normally transferred inside a spreadsheet or word document and copy themselves from computer to computer with the intention of creating a backdoor into a system which will allow other people access to the pc and the information stored inside.

Anti-virus software will protect a user from most if not all of these threats but must be constantly updated to keep up to date with the newest viruses and threats out there. A couple of anti-worm packages that are useful are W32 Stration and Bufferzone Security Pro. After reading lots of different reviews and forums i would recommend Bufferzone as a good all round package for protection against worms and other malicious threats.

W32 Stration	BufferZone Security Pro 2.10-37
Size 0.39 MB	Size 8.74 MB
License Freeware	License Shareware
Price N/A	$29.95 to buy
Category Security/Anti-Virus	Category Security/Anti-Virus
Operating System Win95,Win98,WinME,WinNT 3.x,WinNT 4.x,Windows2000,WinXP,Windows2003	Windows XP
Developer Proland Software	Trustware.com