The antibiotic programs (antivirus) are for most users the first line of defense against every online threat. They run continuously in the background and control each function of the other programs by alerting the user whenever they find something suspicious.
However, an antibiotic program alone cannot limit the activity of all internet viruses! It is generally accepted that cyber threats are constantly mutating to be able to bypass all user protection measures. But what about the companies that produce antibiotics? programs do they adapt to the new data?
From 1986, the year when it first appeared virus that could infect personal computers, until today a lot has changed. Now, malicious programs are created to somehow make their creators money, while software companies better safetys adapt their programs to new threats.
The antibiotic programs in the first years of their existence they operated with a machine virus detection trying to protect users' systems. As the number and "resilience" of malicious programs grew, new technologies were incorporated that could be more effective in dealing with them. Thus, most security software companies to strengthen their programs:
- They have built-in technologies for heuristics. These technologies can detect new viruses that have not yet been discovered and signed (depending on the company).
- Increased Renewal Rate of Programs with More Updates. The antibiotic program does not only update the signatures update, but also updates its modules updates on a regular basis.
- Develop more sophisticated Firewall. Simple antibiotics were replaced by "security suites" that except from an antibiotic, have a sophisticated "firewall" which controls incoming and outgoing traffic. The two models work together harmoniously with better results for the user.
- They incorporated a second virus detection engine. (2 in 1 antibiotics). The result of course is to increase the virus detection rate, which of course has the corresponding "cost" of the resource consumption of the system.
- They added HIPS (Host Based Intrusion Prevention System) The program now protects vital system files (hosts).
- They incorporated the sandbox technique. Revolutionary technology that performs (malicious) programs in a protected computer space.
The viruses and antibiotics war seems to intensify in the future as virus writers will look for more vulnerabilities in user operating systems. On the other hand, antibiotics will try to stay "up to date" in the new environment that will be shaped each time.
We thank her warmly SecTeam @Trojan.
