What Type of Threats Will Antivirus Detect?

If you own a computer, it's essential that you have antivirus protection for it. Most people now use their computer to connect with friends and family, do work from home and manage most of their banking and finances. Without antivirus software to protect your PC, your data could be lost, someone could gain access to it or both.

Below are the types of problems that antivirus suites can detect and protect your computer from.

Data-Collection Malware

There are a variety of types of malware, which is software of any type that can damage or cause problems with your computer, that can infect your PC. Not all of them make it obvious that something is going wrong behind the scenes. For example, there are a number of types of malware that mine for and collect data.

This data can range from your surfing habits to your login information for websites. Data collection malware may even be able to obtain things like your credit card information or bank account number. Unlike other types of malware, which may cause your computer to stop working properly, this type of malware often goes unnoticed since the point is for you not to know that your information is being gathered.

Along with the issue of malware that sneakily steals your data, there's also something that has developed in the last few years called ransomware. This is a type of malware that prevents you from accessing files on your computer. The only way to get access again is to pay the developer of the ransomware a certain amount of money, and it is usually paid in Bitcoins, which makes it nearly impossible to track down the individual who created the malware.

What's so alarming about ransomware is that the only way to stop it is to have an antivirus program prevent the malware from infecting your computer. In many cases, once your computer is infected, there's no way to unlock files without paying to do so.

Malware That Causes Computer Problems

While most information-gathering malware tends to quietly cause problems that you're not aware of, there are also types of malware that can make your computer slow, not respond properly or essentially unusable. Some types of malware exist for no other reason than to damage your operating system or keep programs on your computer from working.

Depending on the type of malware on your computer, you could find that files go missing, that trash files start to fill up your hard drive or that programs stop working. Additionally, many types of malware will download and install other types of malware on your computer, so problems will continue to get worse until your computer is no longer able to function.

With a solid antivirus program, you can not only protect your computer from malware and viruses, but you can also eliminate any malicious programs that are currently running. Antivirus software is constantly being updated to make sure that you're protected against the newest types of threats, and it can ensure that your data and your computer are safe.