If you’re searching for an antivirus product that can provide you with complete protection against all threats, you’ve seen or heard the word “malware”.

Malware means “malicious software”. This includes viruses, rootkits, trojans, worms, etc. Depending on the type of malware in question, these malicious programs can potentially steal your personal information and credit card details, and even corrupt and delete files from your hard drive.

How Do You Protect Yourself Against Malware?

In order to protect your personal information and files, you need a security suite that provides efficient anti-malware protection. Most antivirus products today protect against malware, though each differ in the technology they use to do it. It is very important that you invest a little time to research before purchasing a security suite that will protect your identity and files. Read reviews about each product and if you are still unsure, check out our antivirus comparison table, or even go as far as contacting their support team to ask if the program covers trojans, worms, viruses, rootkits, and spyware.

What Does Anti-Malware Do?

Since malware is a general term for any kind of malicious software, it is very difficult for these security suites to detect new threats, especially since new threats pop up every day.

The solution to this is a feature called “behavioral detection”. Before behavioral detection, anti-malware products detected possible threats by searching for threats they know about. This means that a virus or trojan would have to attack a number of people before the security company knew about it. Once they knew about it, they would update their servers and your antivirus would update its list of known threats. By the time the threat can be detected, you may have already been attacked. By using behavioral detection, the antivirus program searches for behavior it knows to be suspicious. It scans software and searches for suspicious behavior, like accessing files or sending files to another computer without your knowledge, and stops that file by deleting it or placing it in quarantine.

Another feature that uses behavioral detection involves a virtual environment. Before you download a file to your computer from an email or external drive, the antivirus downloads it to a virtual computer and waits to see how it behaves. If it behaves normally, it allows you to continue with your download, otherwise it stops you from downloading a potential threat. This allows the program to detect threats without ever risking your security.

Not all antivirus products have behavioral detection, so it is important to check before purchasing a security suite to protect your files. By making sure behavioral detection is used, you can rest assured that your anti-malware software is providing you with maximum protection against malware.

Spyware Protection

Spyware is a form of malware that first gains access to a user’s computer without their knowledge, then transmits sensitive data back to its operator. It can also be used to take some form of control over the user’s computer. The most common use of spyware is to retrieve information about the target’s behavior and activities online, without ever alerting them to its presence. Most highly-rate anti-malware suites include robust anti-spyware, which generally requires two distinct capabilities: spyware protection and spyware removal.

Do All Antivirus Products Have Anti-Malware?

Because malware refers to all types of malicious software, the answer is no. Not all products know how to detect rootkits properly, for example, and rootkits are considered malware. This is changing very fast and everyday more antivirus products upgrade their technology and provide more comprehensive security. To be sure that you are protected against malware, always read the product’s features thoroughly and read antivirus software reviews for additional unbiased information.