Antivirus

What is Antivirus?

Antivirus is software that detects, blocks, and removes malicious programs, known as malware, from your computers and devices. It works mainly by recognizing known threats, making it a basic and necessary layer of protection, though not a complete defense against today’s more advanced attacks.

How It Works

Traditional antivirus relies on signatures, which are digital fingerprints of known malware. When it scans a file, it compares that file against a database of known threats and blocks anything that matches. The database updates regularly as new malware is discovered.

This approach works well against known, established threats. It is fast, familiar, and catches the common viruses and malicious files that have been seen before.

The limitation is that signature-based antivirus struggles with threats it has never seen. Modern attackers use new, constantly changing malware and fileless techniques that leave no traditional signature, which can slip past antivirus entirely.

Why It Matters

Antivirus is still worth having as a baseline, but relying on it alone leaves a dangerous gap. Today’s ransomware and advanced attacks are specifically designed to evade signature-based tools. This is why businesses have largely moved to endpoint detection and response, which watches for suspicious behavior in real time rather than only matching known signatures. Antivirus is the floor, not the ceiling, of device protection.

Related Terms

• What Is Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)?
• What Is Malware?
• What Is Ransomware?
• What Is an Endpoint?

For a complete guide, read our full article on why traditional antivirus is not enough.

SecTec deploys modern endpoint detection and response beyond basic antivirus as part of our network and endpoint security service.