Explain antivirus software with examples.
Write some benefits of using antivirus software. A type of software that is used to detect and remove viruses is called antivirus software. Antivirus programs contain information about different known viruses. They can detect viruses and remove them.
Many antivirus programs are available in the market. But no single software can detect and remove all viruses. Many new viruses are invented and spread through internet continuously. Antivirus programs are also upgraded continuously to detect these new viruses. Antivirus program not only detects viruses from computer but also prevent new viruses from entering into the computer. Some important antivirus programs are as follows.
- McAfee
- Norton Antivirus
- Doctor Solmon’s
McAfee and Norton are two most commonly used antivirus programs in windows operating system.
Benefits
Some important benefits of using antivirus programs are as follows:
- Antivirus program protects important data from virus.
- It checks all files before they enter computer system.
- It alerts the user about the virus before it causes any damage to computer.
- It quarantines or eliminates a virus so that it may not harm computer.
What is data security? Why is it important?
The protection of data is called data security. Data stored in any computer can be lost due to different reasons. The data can be lost accidentally. Someone can damage the data. Data can be lost completely or partially. The data is much valuable and important than the computer itself. It should be saved in such a way that it may not be lost or damaged.
Some organizations obtain data from the users and store data online to provide fast services. Some examples are as follows:
- A credit card company may store data of its customers online.
- A bank may provide online services using online data storage for the records.
- A university may provide the facility of online results.
The organization obtaining the data is responsible for the security of data. The user can prosecute against the organization if there is any problem in data security.
Importance of data security
Data security is very important to run some organizations successfully. A person may enter the network of an organization and gain unauthorized access to the data. For example, he may use the credit card number of another user for shopping. If the unauthorized person deletes important data, the business of the organization may be damaged severely. So it is very important to protect data from illegal and unauthorized access.
Discuss some ways in which the security of data may be violated.
Following are some of the ways in which the security of data may be violated.
- Someone may break into the computer room. He may take away all storage devices that contain important and sensitive data.
- An unauthorized user may take access to the personal data. He may use it to gain some advantage. For example, someone may get access to the credit card of some other person. He can use it for online shopping from his account.
- An unauthorized user may use an online mail server like mail. Yahoo.com. he may view the email messages of other users. It may cause privacy issues.
- Someone can send a virus onto a network. The virus may slow down the network or even make it unusable.
- Some users may gain unauthorized access to bank accounts. They can transfer a large amount of money from other accounts to his account.
- A person may make a computer so busy by sending many requests. The computer may become unavailable to authorized users. It is called denial of service situation.