Antivirus SoftwareBy

Sahaab Akbar, BBA (Hons.) 7th MDepartment of Management

Sciences, IUB

2

Agenda for Discussion

Introduction Definition of a Computer Virus History of Computer Viruses

What is Antivirus?

Importance of Antivirus Software

Types of Antivirus Software

Some Popular Antivirus Software

Future Developments

3

Introduction

Have you ever wondered why your PC or Office Server is

running slow?

Do you recall placing your data in one place but

finding unwanted copies of it elsewhere on your

computer?

Does your computer often behave unexpectedly?

Your system might be infected by a computer Virus!

4

What is a Virus?

A computer Program is classified as a Virus if:-- That infects other programs.-- Replicates itself automatically.-- Recode the sequence of legitimate programs.-- Performs undesirable functions in the computer.

Viruses are usually classified as either benign or malicious:-- Benign viruses mostly annoy the users but do no harm to data.-- Malicious viruses cause specific damage to data and hardware.

Viruses are very diverse and always evolving, so:-- No specific rule or class may apply to all the types of Viruses.

Sour

ce:

Pete

r No

rton

(20

05),

McG

raw

Hill

Pub

lish

ing

5

What is a Virus?

Viruses are designed to harm the computer by:-- Copying themselves to other programs or disks.-- Replicate as rapidly and frequently as possible.-- Display undesirable information on screen.-- Modify, Corrupt or Destroy selected files.-- Erase the contents of the entire disk.-- Lie dormant till the right time to attack.Worms, Trojan Horses and other Malicious software are not Viruses.Viruses in the US alone cause millions of dollars worth of damage to corporations.

Sour

ce:

Pete

r No

rton

(20

05),

McG

raw

Hill

Pub

lish

ing

6

History of Computer Viruses

One of the very first Viruses were developed by the US defense agencies on their ARPANET environment namely Creeper Virus in 1960s.The first “in the wild” or out of the lab virus was “Elk Cloner” designed by a high school student in the US – spreading via removable media on Apple OS/3.The first traditional computer virus for IBM-PC platform was ©Brian designed and launched by Alvi Brothers from Lahore, Pakistan in early 1980s.With the inception of World Wide Web in 1990s, millions of viruses from all sorts of origins have sprung up, attacking unknowing victims worldwide.By 2000s most viruses spread – by spam email, removable media and/or corrupted programs through internet – as part of organized crime.

Sour

ce:

AVG

labs

201

2, w

ww.g

riso

ft.c

om

1960s

• First LAB virus experiments

• Creeper is designed

1970s

• Elk Cloner Virus for Apply OS/3

• The very first Virus out of Lab

1980s

• (C) Brian Virus on IBM-PC

• Created by Alvi Brothers Lahore, Pakistan

1990s

• WWW viruses emerge

• Windows Platform is targeted most

2000s

• Y2K Virus spreads panic

• Viruses are adopted by cybercriminals and organized crime

7

History of Computer Viruses

Source: IBM Antivirus Research, www.research.ibm.com

TIME LINE OF MAJOR EVENTS

8

What is Antivirus?

Antivirus software is a computer program that detects, prevents, and takes action to disarm or remove malicious software programs, such as viruses and wormsAntivirus Software works by either:-- using algorithms to compare known viruses to files on the user’s computer-- or, using heuristics to monitor unexpected or malicious activity

To help prevent the most current viruses, you must update your antivirus software regularly.You can set up most types of antivirus software to update automatically.

Sour

ce:

Micr

osof

t 20

12,

www.

micr

osof

t.co

m/se

curi

ty/r

esou

rces

9

Importance of Antivirus Software

An Antivirus Software is like the immune system of the computer.It is difficult to cure a computer once it is infected so antivirus helps prevent attacks by viruses in the first place.Having good Antivirus Software is an affordable way of keeping your system or corporate data safe from all sorts of crime.Anonymity of Cyber-Criminals makes it hard to track down a virus in time so antivirus acts as the frontline of defense.It is invariably agreed by all researchers that new viruses emerge every minute so having an updated antivirus is best for proper safety.Keeping safe and secure is number 1 priority.

10

Types of Antivirus Software

Antivirus software work by:Signature-based detection - identify viruses and other malware, by comparing the contents of a file to a database of virus signatures.Heuristics - depending on the actions logged, the antivirus software can determine if the program is malicious or a virus.Rootkit detection - scan for rootkits, designed to gain administrative-level control over a computer system without being detected.Real-time protection - monitors computer systems for suspicious activity in 'real-time‘.

Sour

ce:

Ency

clop

edia

Bri

tann

ica

2012

11

Popular Antivirus Software

Sour

ce:

Bing

201

2, w

ww.b

ing.

com

12

Future Developments

Modern day Virus makers are getting smarter and writing new codes for their viruses every day. Viruses evolve themselves by embedding into another computer program as well.Lack of trust and security can bring down heavy losses to an organization due to consistent virus attacks.Antiviruses need to become smarter and evolve along with the viruses.There are many cheap solutions to identify and remove viruses.Two or more Antiviruses can work best for real-time complete protection.The whole world of internet is vulnerable to a major CYBERGEDDON if a virus attack is untraceable, global and if there are no Antivirus Software.

13

Thank You!