It’s no secret that antivirus programs are considered one of the best tools that you can use to protect yourself from online threats. However, do you know exactly what kind of threats exist on the Internet, and how antivirus programs fight them?
The following are 10 ways antivirus programs keep all kinds of online threats at bay and protect your privacy:
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Data Protection
We live in a digital age in which files and documents are often stored in digital formats. For instance, you might be keeping thousands of business documents like invoices, reports, receipts, etc. on your computer and smartphone. However, if a virus infects your system, then it can easily damage these files.
If you want to protect important business files and documents, then it’s important that you get a top antivirus program. Another action recommended by experts is creating a backup of your files on a separate local or cloud storage.
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Finance Protection
Gone are the days when people had to visit brick-and-mortar establishments to access various kinds of banking services. Today, a wide range of facilities are available on the Internet. However, if a cybercriminal can learn your credentials for your online banking account, they can transfer your funds into their account easily. Again, you can prevent this kind of phishing activity from happening by installing a comprehensive antivirus program on your computer and mobile.
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Identity Theft Prevention
One of the best ways to prevent identity fraud is to update sharing and firewall settings when you access a public wi-fi network. However, you should also use antivirus programs so that hackers aren’t able to steal your sensitive details like your name, address, social security number with the help of spyware and phishing attacks.
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Parental Controls
The Internet is full of educational and interesting websites that your children will surely like. However, it’s also full of inappropriate and harmful content that you would never want them to see. Therefore modern antivirus programs come with parental controls that allow you to block these kinds of websites.
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Malicious Websites Blocking
What would you do if you want to learn photography or a new language? You search for appropriate websites on the Internet, right? However, you don’t want to accidentally open a harmful website while freely browsing your options. By installing an antivirus program on your computer, you can easily revert to safety before a malicious website gains access to your digital device.
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Phishing Attacks Prevention
Antivirus programs are often engineered to reduce the number of spam emails that you get in your inbox. They can also prevent phishing attacks that are aimed at stealing your passwords, banking, or personal information.
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Ransomware Protection
Ransomware is one of the most dangerous forms of malware programs out there. It’s designed to reside dormant in your computer system for days or even weeks, and then launch an attack when the system is most vulnerable. It locks you out of the system so that you can’t access your files, and if you want to regain access, then you must pay a “ransom” (hence the term ransomware).
Basic antivirus programs may prevent a ransomware attack. However, top antivirus programs can offer a higher level of security.
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Man-in-the-middle Attacks Prevention
Man-in-the-middle attacks are cyberattacks in which the attacker can read the conversation taking place between two parties via the Internet. They can also talk to one of the persons by pretending to be the other one.
There are various forms of man-in-the-middle attacks like SSL hijacking, Wi-Fi hacking, DNS spoofing, etc. but they can all be easily prevented with a quality antivirus program.
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Brute force Attacks
In a brute-force attack, a massive dictionary is used to identify the password or some other personal information about an account through trial and error. These attacks can be easily avoided by using strong passwords. Comprehensive antivirus programs can easily help with password management.
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Malvertising
Malvertising means using genuine ad networks to deliver malware on many systems which the users might click on the ads. These kinds of attacks can be quite dangerous but are easily tackled by an antivirus program.
Looking at the list of these online attacks, you can easily see that the Internet has its share of risks. So, if you improve the security of your computer and mobile further, then you’ll be ensured with a headache-free browsing experience.
