Maintaining a Malware-Free Environment
The key to keeping malware out of your computer system is to start with a clean structure and diligently protect it from becoming infected. Your anti-malware software contains several components that work together to keep your computer free of malware. TABLE 5-4 lists the common components of anti-malware software needed to keep a system malware-free.
TABLE 5-4 Common Anti-Malware Software Components |
|
|---|---|
| COMPONENT | DESCRIPTION |
| Signature database | Collection of identifying instructions for known malware used to detect malware in existing programs and files |
| Scanner | Software that compares existing file contents with a signature database to identify malware |
| Vault | Secure location on disk used to store identified malware |
| Shield | Software that intercepts all incoming—and optionally outgoing—information, scanning each message or file for malware content |
The first step in staying malware-free is to install one or more anti-malware software products and scan your system. You’ll learn more about the scanning process in the next section, but for now, scanning searches your computer for malware. The scanning process uses the scanner and signature database components to find any malware programs. If the software does find any malware, it will need to be removed. You’ll learn more about malware removal in a later section. The removal process may use the vault component in the cleanup process.
Once the computer is free from detected malware, you need to ensure it stays clean. The remaining common component of anti-malware software is the anti-malware shield. The shield is software that intercepts and scans incoming information for malware. Some shield software can also scan outgoing information for malware. The shield helps protect a computer from new malware, or from sending malware to another computer if you have enabled outgoing scanning.
Malware can move from computer to computer in many ways; so, anti-malware shield software often intercepts information, such as:
Internet email messages
Local email client messages
Social media messages
Web traffic
Other application network traffic
P2P traffic
The shield function of your anti-malware software will go a long way toward keeping your computers malware free, but should not be the only control in place. Always remember the defense-in-depth strategy when protecting resources. A good anti-malware shield is only one part of an overall security plan to keep computers malware-free.