Anti-Virus Software
Anti-virus detects and prevents malicious software from infecting your devices. But sometimes it can be difficult to know which software to use – is it really an anti-virus software or is it a fake? Is it worth paying for it or can you get it for free?
What does it do?
Anti-virus software guards and monitors your device for any malware. Malware is short for malicious software which, if it infects your device, it can encrypt your data, steal it, or delete it amongst a list of other things. It’s important to have anti-virus software and keep it up to date.
If anti-virus software identifies anything malicious it’s objective is to contain it as to not allow it to spread throughout the device.
Which anti-virus software should I choose?
It depends on the circumstances.
Most computers nowadays come with inbuilt anti-virus software, like Windows and Apple computers.
Some anti-virus software providers have a free version that you can trial, such as Norton, MacAfee and Avast. Note, once the trial expires you will need to start paying.
Please note that if you have an inbuilt anti-virus software and subsequently install a separate software then the two software can conflict and not work properly.
Once you have installed an anti-virus software, it will run an initial scan and identify anything harmful. After that, the software will continually scan your device for anything malicious. You will be responsible for updating the software so keep an eye out for any pop ups relating to this and action accordingly.
