{"id":162159,"date":"2022-11-25T06:12:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-25T14:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/?p=162159"},"modified":"2024-06-19T05:38:03","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19T12:38:03","slug":"what-is-antivirus-and-what-does-it-really-protect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/what-is-antivirus-and-what-does-it-really-protect\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Antivirus and What Does It Really Protect?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Authored by Dennis Pang<\/p>\n

What is antivirus<\/a>? That\u2019s a good question. What does it really protect? That\u2019s an even better question.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years, I\u2019ve come to recognize that different people define antivirus differently. Some see it as way to keep hackers from crashing their computers. Others see it as a comprehensive set of protections. Neither definition is entirely on the money.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With this blog, I hope to give everyone a clear definition of what antivirus does well, along with what it doesn\u2019t do at all. The fact is that antivirus is just one form of online protection. There are other forms of protection as well, and understanding antivirus\u2019 role in your overall mix of online protection is an important part of staying safer online.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is antivirus?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Antivirus software protects your devices against malware and viruses through a combination of prevention, detection, and removal.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For years, people have installed antivirus software on their computers. Today, it can also protect your smartphones and tablets as well. In fact, we recommend installing it on those devices as well because they\u2019re connected, just like a computer\u2014and any device that connects to the internet is a potential target for malware and viruses.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In short, if it\u2019s connected, it must get protected.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One important distinction about antivirus is its name, a name that first came into use decades ago when viruses first appeared on the scene. (More on that in a bit.) However, antivirus protects you from more than viruses. It protects against malware too.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Malware is an umbrella term that covers all types of malicious software regardless of its design, intent, or how its delivered. Viruses are a subset of malicious software that infects devices and then replicates itself so that it can infect yet more devices.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So while we popularly refer to protection software as antivirus, it protects against far more than just viruses. It protects against malware overall.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now here\u2019s where some confusion may come in. Some antivirus apps are standalone. They offer malware protection and that\u2019s it. <\/span>Other antivirus apps are part of comprehensive online protection software<\/span><\/a>, which can include several additional far-reaching features that can protect your privacy and your identity.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The reason why antivirus gets paired up with other apps for your privacy and identity is because antivirus alone doesn\u2019t offer these kinds of protections. Yet when paired with things like a password manager, credit monitoring, identity theft coverage, and a VPN, to name a few, you can protect your devices\u2014along with your privacy and identity. All the things you need to stay safer online.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In short, antivirus doesn\u2019t cut it alone.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With that, let\u2019s take a closer look at what malware and viruses really are\u2014how they evolved, and what they look like today, along with how antivirus protects you against them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What was the first computer virus?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Viruses have a long history. And depending on how you define what a virus is, the first one arguably took root in 1971\u2014more than 50 years ago.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was known as <\/span>Creeper<\/span><\/a>, and rather than being malicious in nature, it was designed to show how a self-replicating program could identify other connected devices on a network, transfer itself to them, and find yet more devices to repeat the process. Later, the same programmer who created a follow-on version of Creeper developed Reaper, a program that could remove the Creeper program. In a way, Reaper could be considered the first piece of antivirus software.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From there, it wasn\u2019t until the 1980\u2019s that malware started affecting the broader population, a time when computers became more commonplace in businesses and people\u2019s homes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At first, malware typically spread by infected floppy disks, much like the \u201c<\/span>Brain<\/span><\/a>\u201d virus in 1986. While recognized today as the first large-scale computer virus, its authors say they never intended it to work that way. Rather they say they created Brain as an anti-piracy measure to protect their proprietary software from theft. However, Brain got loose. It went beyond their software and affected computers worldwide. Although not malicious or destructive in nature, Brain most certainly put the industry, businesses, and consumers on notice.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Computer viruses became a thing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another piece of malware that got passed along via floppy disks was the \u201c<\/span>PC Cyborg<\/span><\/a>\u201d attack that targeted the medical research community in and around 1989. There the malware would lie in wait until the user rebooted their computer for the 90<\/span>th<\/span> time. And on that 90<\/span>th<\/span> boot, the user was presented with a digital ransom note like the one here:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Early
Early example of ransomware- Source, Wikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Along with that note, PC Cyborg encrypted the computer\u2019s files, which would only get unencrypted if the victim paid a fee\u2014making PC Cyborg the first widely recognized form of ransomware.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortly thereafter, the internet started connecting computers, which opened millions of doors for hackers as people went online. Among the most noteworthy was 1999\u2019s \u201cMelissa\u201d virus, which spread by way of infected email attachments and overloaded hundreds of corporate and governmental email servers worldwide.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was quickly followed in 2000 by what\u2019s considered the among the most damaging malware to date\u2014ILOVEYOU, which also spread by way of an attachment, this one posing as a love letter. Specifically, it was a self-replicating worm that installed itself on the victim\u2019s computer where it destroyed some information and stole other information, then spread to other computers. <\/span>One estimate puts the global cost of ILOVEYOU at $10 billion<\/span><\/a> and further speculated that it infected 10% of the world\u2019s internet-connected computers at the time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s malware and viruses\u2014even more malicious today<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

With the advent of the internet, malware quickly established itself as a sad fact of connected life. <\/span>Today, McAfee registers an average of 1.1 million new malicious programs and potentially unwanted apps (PUA) each day, which contributes to the millions and millions of malicious programs already in existence.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Apart from the sheer volume of malware out there today, another thing that distinguishes today\u2019s malware from early malware attacks\u2014they\u2019re created largely for profit.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We can think of it this way:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n