Antivirus in the Cloud

 

Antivirus in the Cloud

As the first point of the report, we can see the main characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of antivirus that run in the cloud. The ANTIVIRUS in the cloud is nothing other than traditional antivirus, but with the characteristic of not being running on our computer, with the consequent saving of resources and process time.

Among the main advantages that we can mention is the ease of the system to always have its database and virus search engine updated, without having to do it ourselves. Another clear advantage is that we can always be protected against any virus threat with the latest technology, even if we have an outdated computer in terms of hardware, because the software necessary for the scan does not reside on our PC, but on the Internet.

Although traditional antivirus offer an important speed when having their databases updated, the truth is that with antivirus in the cloud, the time that elapses between the appearance of the update and its installation on our PC can sometimes be critical.

Regarding the disadvantages offered by the system, we can cite a series of aspects that are more related to the aspect of usability, rather than its effectiveness. Obviously, for the system to work, we must have a constant connection to the Internet, an element of which a traditional Antivirus for PC can do without.

Also another negative point offered by antivirus in the cloud is a question related to the availability of the service, both of the servers of the company providing the service and of the servers of our ISP. Also, as with any other service hosted in the cloud, our data will be more exposed to cybercriminals than if we use a traditional antivirus for PC.

Traditional PC Antivirus

One of the best features that we can find in a traditional ANTIVIRUS with respect to one hosted in the cloud, is the possibility that the system offers to be used without an Internet connection, with all the advantages that this implies. There is also a great variety of excellent antivirus programs on the market, and many of them are totally free, which allows us to have a suitable alternative for each of our needs.

Likewise, the traditional antivirus system offers us a series of very important characteristics when managing everything related to infected files, such as the possibility of making backup copies of them in the so-called "Quarantines" or the possibility of excluding them from the scan. Certain folders, possibilities that antivirus systems in the cloud do not offer.

As for the disadvantages that we can cite, they are really very few, and are more related to a resource use issue, since the system must load a series of programs that will act as shields, which suffers a little from the performance of our PC. In this sense, one of the best traditional antivirus protection programs that we can recommend is Avast! Another excellent Antivirus is the one that incorporates Microsoft's operating system, Windows Defender, which has the advantage of being one of the least resource-intensive and also comes pre-installed in the operating system, with all the advantages that this offers.

In the event that we want to try an online antivirus, the best alternative that exists at this time for an online antivirus is Panda.

How to test if you’re Antivirus works

There is a famous phrase by Juan Domingo Perón, Argentine president, who says: "Man is good, but if he is watched over, he is better."   Something similar happens with antivirus, and that is why there are several ways to test them and to know if they are alert taking care of our computer, a more than fundamental aspect so that our system, and the data contained in it, are protected against any threat that may arise when we surf the Internet or exchange files with other computer users over a network or external storage media.

From this point on, we will know an extremely practical way of knowing if the antivirus that we have installed on our computer is working well, that is, that it is fulfilling the task that we have entrusted to it. Basically we are talking about a site on the Internet that offers us a way to simulate that we are downloading a file with a virus or other threat to our computer. But be careful, we must remember that it is only a simulation, not a real attack, so our team will not observe any kind of complication.