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Introduction
There are a number of Anti-Virus (AV) software products available. Note the following:
- Some products are available for retail purchase at various outlets such as: computer shops, electronics stores
(e.g. in Australia: Dick Smiths, Tandy), and office supplies stores. Also in the computer or electrical sections
of some department stores. Be aware that once you open the package, the store may not allow the product to be returned.
- Some products are available on an evaluation basis, where you install the product for a trial period (typically
30 days). If you want to keep using the software, it is usually the case that you need to register the product
(often over the Internet) and make payment. Without registering the product, it will typically no longer function
after the evaluation period. Evaluation versions of the products are generally available to download over the Internet,
or sometimes on computer magazine CDs.
- When installing an AV product, some of them will search for competitive products already installed on the PC.
If another product is found, they can refuse to install until the other product is uninstalled and removed.
- The best time to buy and install an AV product is before the computer is infected by a virus. Once a computer
is infected, the recovery process can be painful, and can take several hours (see the Previous
Page).
The components of an AV product
Depending on the AV product, it might have some or all of the following components:
- Core software that provides the user interface, and access to the key functions of the product. Any changes
to this part of the product tend to be incidental, and are usually not related to the viruses.
- A virus-detection engine that employs a particular technology to search for, and detect, various viruses.
- A virus definition file (also referred to as a DAT file, or a signature file) that contains information specific
to known viruses. The AV software (and the engine if appropriate) will use this file when looking for viruses.
Product Features
The following list of features provides an indication of what might be included
in some AV products. Each product's own feature set may differ from that of another product, and it may differ
from version to version. Some of these features might be important to you, and some may not be.
- Installation. Install the product from an installation CD, or an evaluation CD (such as that which accompanies
periodical computer magazines) or install over the Internet.
- Rescue disk(s). Create an Emergency Boot Disk or Rescue Disk (or set of disks). Some packages will allow a
higher capacity removable disk (eg. Iomega Zip disk) to be set up as a Rescue Disk. A Rescue Disk is used in the
eventuality of a virus infection to clean-boot the PC and commence the disinfection of the PC.
- Software license. The product might be available in a single-license version to install onto a single PC, or
a multiple-user license version (e.g. for 5 or 10 users) to cover a group of PCs. Also look for a license to cover
the product's use on servers. Some products might be available with a license arrangement that covers a particular
number of computers regardless of whether they are PCs, laptops, workstations, servers or systems.
- Update. Because new viruses are continually being created, it is important for the AV software to be periodically
updated to recognise and remove new viruses. The updated AV software needs to be made available, and applied to
the required computers. Updates might be available via CD (by mail), or over the Internet.
- Deploying updates. If you have several computers to which updates are to be applied, then look at the method
for deploying the updates. Some packages require the update to be applied explicitly on each computer (requiring
a person to take some action on each computer). Some packages can be updated and managed from a single central
computer within the business.
- Virus detection. The different methods that might be employed to look for a virus, and to intercept it include:
- To run at the time of computer power-up, and check some key computer system features (e.g. check memory for
memory-resident viruses, check the disk's boot sector for boot sector viruses, and check the File Allocation Table).
- To run constantly in memory, and scan various computer activity (e.g. files being opened, programs being executed,
e-mails received).
- To run when invoked by the user to check a newly received floppy disk, CD, or file(s).
- To run when invoked by the user to check part or all of the computer's hard drive.
- To run automatically according to a schedule to check part or all of the computer's hard drive.
- Virus removal. Once the AV software detects a virus, there can be multiple options for removal, such as the
following:
- Display a message and prompt for a user response as to the course of action to take.
- Automatically quarantine the file that contains the virus, by putting the infected file into a special directory
for subsequent action.
- Automatically clean the infected file by removing the virus (note that this might render the original file
inoperative).
- Send a copy of the file to an AV software company for investigation, or to gather statistics about known virus
infections.
- Simply delete the infected file.
- Virus support. Some AV software companies provide support for users of their product in case of a problem with
virus removal. Look for: ease of contact (phone, fax, e-mail), hours of coverage (24 hours, 7 days), guaranteed
response time, and online information via the Internet (perhaps a Knowledge Base or Frequently Asked Questions
database). Note that extra support might cause the initial product cost to be somewhat higher.
- The software company. It might be important to consider whether the company who produces the product specialises
in writing this software, or if they do many other things as well.
Sample Anti-Virus Products
In Australia, commonly used or popular products include the following (in no particular
order):
Previously available products such as Dr. Solomon have been taken over.
For more information, see the product sites listed above, and also see the following
useful Web sites:
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