3.10. Using Antivirus Software
There are over 60,000 known viruses today. In addition, more viruses and worms are created on a daily basis. While most viruses are simply a nuisance, some can be very dangerous to your system. Because of this, you should have an antivirus program installed on every server and client computer within your organization. The only real protection is complete protection. In this section, we discuss the importance of antivirus software.
3.10.1. Critical Information
You should know the purpose of antivirus software. In addition, you should know the benefits gained by installing antivirus software on all of the computers in your organization. Finally, you should be able to list the characteristics of antivirus software so that you can get the most from your software.
3.10.1.1. The Purpose of Antivirus Software
The main purpose of antivirus software is to protect your computer by detecting and eradicating viruses before they have a chance to damage your computer or the data contained within it. In order for antivirus software to be effective, it must be continually updated with the latest virus definitions. Most antivirus software vendors offer an automatic update of virus definitions through their websites. To prevent viruses from slipping through, you should ensure that the antivirus software installed on your servers and clients is updated regularly. There are many antivirus software vendors from which you can choose, but the most well known are Symantec's Norton AntiVirus and McAfee Antivirus. Both Norton and McAfee offer automatic updates through the Web.
3.10.1.2. The Benefits of Using Antivirus Software
To realize the greatest benefit of using antivirus software, make sure that you have it installed and enabled on all of the servers and clients in your organization. The greatest benefit of using antivirus software is that you don't have to hassle with viruses on a daily basis. This is especially true if all of the computers in your organization are equipped with the software. If any computer does not have antivirus software, it can become infected with a virus and thereby spread the infection to other computers that also do not have antivirus software. In addition, computers that are equipped with antivirus software will be forced to take measures against the virus; often resulting in warning messages on the user's monitor.
As we said earlier, most viruses are just a nuisance but some can be very dangerous to your computers and especially the data contained in them. The time lost in reinstalling computer systems and applications is a business cost that is not necessary and often cannot be justified. In fact, the total economic impact of damage caused by viruses and worms is measured in billions of dollars per year. You can save your organization more than just headaches and hassles by implementing an antivirus program; you can save your organization money.
3.10.1.3. Considerations When Using Antivirus Software
Most of the considerations in regard to using antivirus software fall into the advantages column. This is especially true if the antivirus software is installed on all computers and maintained using automatic updates. There are, however, a couple of disadvantages. You should be aware of these disadvantages and the methods you can employ to overcome them.
The first is in regard to the overall performance of the computer. Since the antivirus software requires processor and memory resources, it can potentially slow down the performance of a computer. You can overcome this problem by ensuring that the computer has more than the required resources, such as processor and memory. The second involves the installation of applications. Because the antivirus software protects against changing the critical files in your computer, any application that requires a change in these files in order to be installed properly will have to fight with the antivirus software to install itself into your computer. Overcoming this problem is accomplished by simply disabling the antivirus software prior to performing an installation of other software. Most antivirus software can be quickly disabled simply by right-clicking on its icon and selecting the Disable option. You should, of course, reenable the antivirus software as soon as you finish installing the new application.
3.10.2. Exam Essentials
Describe the purpose of antivirus software. The main purpose of antivirus software is to protect a computer from becoming infected by viruses that can damage it and the data on it. Antivirus software works best when it is installed on every computer within your organization.
Understand the benefits of antivirus software. The greatest benefit of antivirus software is not having to hassle with viruses on a daily basis. Although most viruses are just a nuisance, some viruses can cause tremendous harm to your computers and the data they contain. The damage caused by viruses and the time required to repair the damage can equate to large sums of money in even a small organization; therefore, antivirus software can save an organization a tremendous amount of money.