Anti-virus Anti-virus - Detects and removes viruses. Anti-virus also picks up Trojans, worms, keyloggers and other forms of malware that threaten your computer.

Anti-spyware Anti-spyware - Detects and removes spyware. Spyware tries to obtain sensitive information such as passwords and credit card details. It then attempts to send this information to cyber criminals.

Anti-spam Anti-spam - Helps stop junk email by filtering your emails.

Virus detection Virus detection - Percentage of viruses found during our own lab tests.		98%		96%		96%		93%		94%		94%		94%		94%		92%		94%
Virus removal Virus removal - Percentage of viruses successfully removed during our own lab tests including rootkits.		96%		98%		94%		96%		96%		93%		94%		92%		58%		94%
False positives False positives - Success rate of the number of false positives recorded. A 100% score means no false positives were recorded.		100%		100%		90%		95%		95%		100%		85%		95%		95%		95%

AV-TEST Certified AV-TEST Certified - AV-TEST are an independent not-for-profit anti-virus testing organization.

ICSA Certified ICSA Certified - ICSA Labs are an independent division of Verizon providing quality assurance tests for a variety of software products.

VB 100% Windows 7 VB 100% Windows 7 - Virus Bulletin provide malware protection advice, but they also provide anti-virus software comparative testing.

VB 100% Windows XP VB 100% Windows XP - Virus Bulletin provide malware protection advice, but they also provide anti-virus software comparative testing.

WCLC - Platinum WCLC - Platinum - West Coast Labs test the performance of security products. They provide Checkmark Certification of various anti-virus software products.

WCLC - Antivirus desktop WCLC - Antivirus desktop - West Coast Labs test the performance of security products. They provide Checkmark Certification of various anti-virus software products.

WCLC - Anti-virus disinfection WCLC - Anti-virus disinfection - West Coast Labs test the performance of security products. They provide Checkmark Certification of various anti-virus software products.

ActiveX ActiveX - A technology developed by Microsoft that is often downloaded to provide more browser features - online gaming for example. It is a legitimate program, but is often abused by virus creators.

Adware Adware - Adware is a program that displays unwanted advertisements on your computer, usually in the form of annoying pop-ups. Adware is harmless by itself, but is often associated with spyware that can steal your personal information.

Browser exploits Browser exploits - A browser exploit takes advantage of a security flaw within the browser, changing its settings without a user's knowledge. Typical symptoms of a browser exploit include an altered homepage (to a suspicious website), favourites removed or freezing and crashing.

Dialers Dialers - A dialler is a program that uses the phone line to connect the computer to Internet. However, there are some fraudulent diallers that automatically modify the access numbers without your knowledge for financial gain, while leaving you with a huge phone bill. Many anti-virus programs are equipped to block such fraudulent diallers.

Keyloggers Keyloggers - A program that gains unauthorized access to your computer, tracks and records individual keystrokes and sends this information to cyber criminals for fraudulent use.

Phishing Phishing - A way of trying to obtain personal or sensitive information such as your debit/credit card details, by the creation of a website (such as your bank) that appears to look genuine, but is actually set-up by cyber criminals for fraudulent use.

Rootkits Rootkits - A rootkit is an unauthorized program that secretively installs on your computer without your knowledge, providing complete access to computer hackers.

Script blocking Script blocking - Prevents suspected malicious programs from running in background of web pages to prevent potential virus threats.

Spam Spam - Scans incoming emails for spam.

Spyware Spyware - Spyware is able to monitor your internet activity, stealing confidential information such as frequently visited pages. It can also alter your browser settings and create unwanted homepages or redirects. There are many dedicated spyware removal programs available, but many anti-virus programs now offer the ability to detect spyware as well as viruses.

Trojans Trojans - Also known as Trojan horses – Trojans pretend to be authorized and useful programs, but when installed, perform unwanted actions on your computer.

Viruses Viruses - Viruses are malicious programs that often spread through e-mail attachments. If those attachments are opened they could corrupt or erase the data on your computer.

Signatures Signatures - A signature is the known coding pattern of a specific virus. By running a set of signatures against a particular file, a virus can be identified instantly.

Heuristics Heuristics - Heuristics detection attempts to stop unknown viruses (usually newly created ones) by looking for common coding patterns used by viruses.

On-access scans On-access scans - Scans your computer continually, monitoring any files that are downloaded, opened or transfered. On-access scans run quietly in the background. It is the opposite of an on-demand scan that requires user intervention to start a scan.

On-demand scans On-demand scans - User intervention is needed to start a scan process. Scanning is therefore on-demand.

Quick scans Quick scans - Quickly scan your computer for the most vulnerable files that can be affected by viruses.

Deep scans Deep scans - Allows you to scan your computer's entire hard drive for viruses, trojans and spyware. This is a far more thorough scan method than the quick scan, but it also takes longer to complete.

Selective scans Selective scans - If you know the specific file or drive posing a virus threat, you can avoid a full scan and save your time by running a manual scan on the questionable file or drive.

Scheduled scans Scheduled scans - Allows you to set a specific time, date or day of the week for when you want the anti-virus to automatically scan your computer. Most anti-virus software also allows you to schedule scans when your computer is shut-down or when your away from your computer.

Compressed files Compressed files - Viruses are often transferred in compressed files such as a ZIP file. Some viruses are transferred with a compressed file within a compressed file and so on.

File exclusion File exclusion - Exclude files or folders from scan processes. Exclusions can speed up scan times, but you should only exclude files or folders that you're sure won't contain viruses.

Automatic updates Automatic updates - You can set your anti-virus software to automatically check, download, and install the latest virus definitions/updates from the product’s web site as soon as an update is available.

Manual updates Manual updates - Offers the ability to manually check, download, and install anti-virus updates directly from the anti-virus company’s website.

Scheduled updates Scheduled updates - You can schedule when you would like your anti-virus software to receive updates. You might want to do this first thing in the morning or at night, when you are not using your computer.

Reverse updates Reverse updates - If an update appears to have had a negative effect on your computer, for example it freezes or behaves strangely you can reverse the update.

Password protection Password protection - Stops your anti-virus settings from being altered by other users.

Quarantine Quarantine - You can move the infected file or file suspected to pose a virus threat to an isolated folder where it cannot cause further harm to the computer.

Laptop mode Laptop mode - Laptop mode saves your laptop's battery by delaying the power-intensive functions of the computer until it is plugged in.

Gamer mode Gamer mode - Lets you play your favourite video games uninterrupted by disabling annoying pop-ups, postponing alerts and scheduled scans, while providing adequate protection to your computer from potential virus threats.

Logfiles Logfiles - Stores the information in the form of error logs for any hardware and software failure on your computer. You can check these files to diagnose the root cause and solution for the hardware and software failures on your computer.

Auto USB detection Auto USB detection - Recognise when a USB device has been added to your computer and asks you if you want to scan that device for viruses.

Scan USB (and other external drives) Scan USB (and other external drives) - Scans the USB device and external drives for viruses.

Email Email - Inbound & outbound email protection.

IM IM - Instant Messaging Protection.

P2P P2P - File Sharing Protection.

Registry Registry - Registry Protection.

Telephone support

Email support

Live chat

Manual

Knowledge base

Forums

FAQs

Windows 7

Windows Vista

Windows XP

Anti-virus software explained

Computer viruses can be picked up from many sources, including emails, websites and files from friends. Good anti-virus software will monitor all these areas and more, to prevent infection at the source.

Most viruses target computers running Microsoft Windows, but you should choose anti-virus software carefully no matter what kind of computer you have. It could save your files and help you avoid having to reload your computer from scratch.

The best anti-virus software will actually keep you protected from all threats which fall into the category of ‘computer viruses’.

They include:

• Viruses. Installed onto your computer without you realizing, some may just display strange messages – but others will be much more harmful.
• Spyware. You won’t know these malicious programs are present on your computer, but they send your private data to hackers online.
• Spam. This junk email can cause havoc with your inbox, clogging it up with rubbish and preventing legitimate messages from getting through.

Many anti-virus packages integrate closely with other software on your computer. This helps them identify viruses earlier – for instance, by analyzing websites you visit to check they aren’t trying to place a virus on your computer.

Dealing with viruses

Anti-virus software monitors your computer for suspicious files and programs. Most packages compare what’s on your computer to a regularly-updated list of viruses. The best will also watch for unusual activity that could be a virus.

If it discovers a problem, anti-virus software will put affected files into quarantine, where they can’t cause harm. You may then be able to remove the virus without destroying the files it is attached to.

Because new viruses are discovered every day, it’s important you choose anti-virus software that downloads updated information about viruses (also called ‘virus definitions’) regularly over the internet.

Effectiveness

The single most important feature of any anti-virus program is that it must detect and stop virus attacks before they occur. If an infection has already occurred it must be able to contain, remove and possibly repair infected files. Plus, all of this should be accomplished without slowing your system to a crawl.

A good scanner should be able to detect zero day viruses as easily as it detects classics such as the 1999 'Melissa virus' and although this may seem obvious, it should effectively remove all traces of a virus from your computer.

Anti-virus software shouldn't be paranoid, flagging legitimate software as malware and otherwise interfering with your day to day use. A well designed program will keep your information safe without having a detrimental effect on system performance or interfering with day-to-day use.

Bear in mind that effectiveness can also be directly related to the frequency of virus definition updates. Software vendors that do multiple updates daily are more likely to catch the newest threats.

Performance

The biggest complaint that computer users have about anti-virus software is its potential to degrade overall system performance. However, an efficiently designed scanner shouldn't have any noticeable impact on your computer and should be able to scan files and folders quickly.

Protection levels

Effective anti-virus will use a number of different strategies to prevent and detect malware. Signature based detection is the most common, but heuristic-based detection is also used by the top anti-virus developers. The bottom line is that anti-virus software should protect you against viruses, worms and Trojans and if it can also protect you against spyware and rootkits even better.

Updates

In terms of updates, your anti-virus should give you the ability to set a scheduled automatic update as well as allow manual updates to ensure you always have the latest virus definitions installed. Some of the better security software vendors will also push updates to their anti-virus programs as new threats are identified.

Certifications

The most reliable way to gauge the effectiveness of any anti-virus program is to look for its certifications. These are awarded through independent testing and research organizations. These research companies regularly compare different software titles for speed, system impact and on-demand/on-access scanning performance.

Since certification testing is paid for by the vendor, it is important to remember that a lack of certification doesn't necessarily mean that the software has failed testing. It may mean that the developers never submitted the program for assessment. For example, in the case of a small new company, they may not have the budget to accommodate testing costs. Despite this caveat, certification remains one of the few ways to accurately measure how well anti-virus software works.

There are four established and respected anti-virus testing organizations. They are:

• AV-Test
• Checkmark
• ICSA
• VB100%

Anti-virus software carrying a seal of approval from these test organizations will undoubtedly do the job efficiently.

Ease of use

Since your anti-virus software will be used on a daily basis, it should be both easy to understand and operate whether you are a complete novice or seasoned expert. Walkthroughs, alerts and warnings should be straight forward and clear in their direction.

Help & support

Help and support are critical components in choosing an anti-virus program or full security system. Most companies will offer standard support such as FAQs or online manuals and some will have active user forums. However, these may not always answer the questions you have. Tougher problems may require telephone and/or email support which could incur additional fees. Apart from the limitations in features, one of the main differences between paid and free anti-virus tools is often the inclusion of technical support.

Q. What is a computer virus?

A. Computer virus is a tiny software program that is capable of replicating itself and spreading from one infected computer to other computers either via a network connection, website download or through email attachments.

Q. What harm can a virus do?

A. Once installed, a virus can do many things such as erase your entire hard drive, infect your email program and send itself to everyone in your address book or disable your computer security thereby opening your computer to even more opportunistic threats online.

Q. Who creates viruses?

A. Virus writers are often referred to as 'cyber-vandals'. These programmers are split into groups, each of which has different motivations for writing viruses. The most active group today use viruses to capture and steal personal data as well as financial information and passwords for identity theft and fraud purposes. However, there are still a number of cyber-vandals whose intent remains fixed on disruption and/or destruction of hard drive contents and internet service. One example of this would be a 'denial of service' attack that can cripple corporate websites.

Q. How did my computer become infected?

A. Though many infections occur from visiting compromised or hacked websites, the most common method of infection is through email attachments, often sent from people you know who are unaware that their computer is infected. Something as benign as a funny image, audio/video file and even a greeting card could actually be carrying a computer virus waiting to infect your system.

Q. How can I prevent a virus attack?

A. Despite their potential to do harm, there are several steps you can take to help protect yourself from infection such as:

1. Avoid opening emails or attachments from people you don't know - and unless you are aware that someone is sending you an attachment, don't open one from a friend until you've confirmed that it is legitimate.
2. Keep your computer up to date with all the latest security patches for your software and operating system.
3. Install and use an anti-virus program or security suite. Scan all email attachments and downloads before opening.
4. Stay informed about new security threats and try not to run your computer as administrator unless absolutely necessary.

The old adage that 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' certainly applies to dealing with viruses.

Q. Are the established anti-virus companies the best ones to use?

A. Programs such as BitDefender and Kaspersky have been around for a long time and with good reason. Their developers are experts in security threats and their knowledge translates into solid anti-virus scanners.

Q. What are updates?

In order to maintain the highest level of virus protection, regular signature updates must be installed.

Q. What are certifications?

You can also easily check which programs are effective by looking for certifications. Most of the major players will be certified by Checkmark, ICSALabs and VB100% after having met the expectations of AV-Test.org through rigorous testing.

Q. Do we need to have use both an anti-virus and anti-spyware scanner?

A. The answer to this really depends on your internet surfing habits as well as what programs you use. Some spyware is bundled with legitimate software titles, iTunes and Bonjour spring to mind. Plus some websites are more prone to malware infection, such as gaming and music sites. So, your risk of infection is highly individual. However, if you've had a problem with slow performance, pop-ups and other nuisance computer issues, it may be worth checking your system for spyware and protecting it from future infection. Running both an anti-virus solution and antispyware certainly couldn't hurt.

Q. Do I have to uninstall the existing anti-virus program before installing a new one?

A. The short answer is yes - uninstall the old anti-virus program and reboot your computer before you begin installing the new program.

Q. Why don't you review all anti-virus software on the market?

A. Though there are many anti-virus titles available on the market, we've focused on the top performers that we feel offer not only the best available scanning systems but also good value for money.

On demand scan

Also known as a manual scan. This when a scan is initiated by the user and not the software. It is the opposite of a scheduled or automatic scan.

On access scan

On access scanning checks files and programs as they are 'accessed' or opened to identify potential security threats.

Heuristic scanning

Heuristic scanning performs piece-by-piece examinations of suspected malware files and identifies sequences that differentiate viruses from normal programs.

False positives

Sometime legitimate software is erroneously identified as a malware threat generating a 'false positive' result from your anti-virus. Since anti-virus programs rely heavily on signatures to identify malware, the method isn't completely foolproof. Some identified virus signatures can also exist in legitimate software titles.

False negatives

When a malware scanner fails to detect a virus, it is referred to as a 'false negative'. This can occur if the virus is either too new, has a faulty signature or a defective configuration setting.

Quarantine

Anti-virus quarantine works in much the same way as hospitals quarantine patients with infectious diseases, the program will isolate a potential threat and place it into a secure folder that is not easily accessible to other parts of the system.

Within the quarantine dialog of most anti-virus software, users can examine a log that identifies what file was initially infected and are given the option to either permanently delete the suspicious file or to reinstate it in the event of a false positive.

Virus signature

A virus signature is an algorithm, made up of digits, that uniquely identifies a specific malware threat or group of viruses known as a 'family'. Signatures can be either a calculated snippet of code or an identified behaviour, such as trying to access certain programs or parts of the operating system without user initiation or awareness.

Zero day virus

A newly created virus that doesn't have a previously identified signature.