Computers are an indispensable part of our daily existence. Without these gadgets life is bound to be very harsh leading. In absence of these gadgets it is quite difficult to survive both in our professional and personal lives. When we are using computers it is also important to ensure safety and privacy with absolute protection from viruses. Antivirus software programmes are designed to eradicate viruses from the computers. Any computer system is vulnerable to viruses as well as over threats related to cyber crime in absence of a reliable antivirus suite. An antivirus not only shields your computers from viruses but also serves many other purposes.
Whether it is a desktop of a laptop used in a home or an office, it should have antivirus software installed, says a leading expert in software in London. However it is important to note that using antivirus suites could also expose you to certain drawbacks. In the following section of the blog post let us explore few benefits as well as disadvantages of antivirus programmes.
Benefits that Antivirus Provide
- Protection from viruses – antivirus software applications are meant to repulse threats that viruses pose as well as other malwares. Viruses are known to delete as well as damage your sensitive data and files. Even the overall performance of your system is likely to degrade because of virus effect. All these issues may take place without you having any idea about the scary developments. Antivirus suite that is installed in your computer detects and removes all these malware before they can bring about any damage to your computer or the files stored in it.
- Protection from spyware – as the name suggests, spyware is a type of malware that spies on your computer. Spyware is even known to steal all confidential and classified information from your system. These may include your credit card details, your login credentials for internet banking and other social media platforms and other information related to your finances. Ultimately the unfortunate situation leads to identity theft. Antivirus software applications are designed with the aim to prevent all these kinds of spyware threats.
- Protection from other threats on the Internet – while surfing the virtual web you may come across loads of other kinds of threats. There are spam websites that collect your credit card as well as online banking details without you knowing about it. You can prevent this kind of thefts with a reliable antivirus application. Antivirus suites prove effective protecting your sensitive information from being passed into the hands of cybercriminals at the time you surf the web.
- Protection from spam – viruses are known to enter into zillions of personal computers through spam e-Mails and pop up ads. These spam e-Mails and ads may pop up any time and even though you have no interest in those topics. Computer viruses need only a single way to sneak into your system. Once it manages to get into your computer then it can create havoc forcing you go cripple in almost every possible way. An antivirus programme blocks all such spam e-Mails and pop up ads to surface in your system.
- Impregnable firewall – the majority of antivirus suites have a firewall feature in them. An antivirus programme having firewall feature provides a 2-way protection to your computer. Whatever information you send or receive through the computer system is double checked. As a result hackers cannot dig into your system and access any sensitive information that you may have stored in it.
- Reasonable costing – although there exists premium versions of antivirus suites that come for a monthly or yearly subscription fee, there are also versions that cost you absolutely nothing. These free applications offer sufficient level of protection to keep you safe from hackers and spam. Even premium versions of the safety applications are pretty reasonable in cost. To cut a long story short, you can be rest assured antivirus protection for your sensitive data and the overall computer system will not burn a hole in your pocket by any chance.
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Disadvantages that Antivirus Applications Expose You To
- Fall in overall performance and network lags – Whenever any antivirus application is in use it invariably means a lot of resources of a computer system is engaged behind it. As a result the overall speed and performance of the computer may dwindle. Even scanning for viruses and other online threats too could create network lags.
- Incomplete protection – If you are on a free antivirus application there is simply no guarantee that it will provide you with 100% protection. The free versions usually provide the basic level of protection and it is important that you remember this. Moreover that category of applications is capable to recognise only certain types of threat. In order to secure complete protection you need to have a firewall as well.
- Security loopholes – security loopholes could be present either in the operating system or networking software. These loopholes are something that could bring trouble. A virus has chances of bypassing the antivirus application when security loopholes are present in a system. A computer system must be kept regularly updated to ensure the antivirus application is effective.
- Limited techniques for virus detection – usually there exists various methods to identify a potential threat. But in virus detection there is only one procedure and that is scanning. In scanning an antivirus programme tries searching for virus code patterns. If the scanning matches with a normal file the application will ring the false alarm. Moreover, the protection suite is more likely to fail recognising a new variant of viruses. In order to overcome this limitation you should update your antivirus software at regular intervals.
- Unexpected advertisements – Premium version of antivirus suites have their own means of earning. But the free versions do not have that advantage. Yet they need generating some income. That is why they often incline to advertising to make money. When those ads show up frequently on their own that degrades user experience to a large extent.
- Zero customer support – Free versions of antivirus programmes do not have any customer support. Unless you subscribe to a premium version there will not be any customer support for you. This is a serious flip side of free version of antivirus programmes. However there are forums and knowledge bases that try providing help.
Now that we have discussed both the pros and cons of antivirus suites in general, it is important to remember a crucial aspect related to your online security. Always buy software online in the UK from reliable vendors. Do not go for spurious or pirated software if you value your online safety and security.