HISTORY
The antivirus born as a
simple tool whose purpose was to detect and remove computer viruses,
during the late 1980s. Over time, the emergence
of more advanced operating systems on
the internet , antivirus have evolved
into more advanced programs that not only seek to
detect a computer virus , but also block it to prevent an
infection by them, as well as are currently capable of recognize other types
of malware , such as spyware , rootkits ,
etc.
FUNCTIONING OF ANTIVIRUSES
The
operation of an antivirus varies from one to another, although its normal
behavior is based on having a list of known viruses and their ways of
recognizing them (so-called signatures or vaccines), and analyzing against that
list the files stored or transmitted from and towards a computer. Additionally,
many of today's Antiviruses
have incorporated proactive detection functions, which are not based on a list
of known malware, but rather analyze the behavior of files or communications to
detect which ones are potentially harmful to the computer, with techniques such
as Heuristics, HIPS, etc.
Usually,
an antivirus has one
(or more) memory- resident component that is
responsible for analyzing and verifying all open, created,
modified, executed and transmitted files in real time ,
that is, while the computer is in use. They also have a low-demand
analysis component (the well-known scanners, explorers, etc.), and e-mail,
Internet protection modules, etc. The primary objective of any current
antivirus is to detect as many computer threats that can affect a computer and
block them before it can infect a computer, or be able to eliminate it after
infection.
EVOLUTION
Over
time, the Internet has made Antivirus Software evolve
into more advanced programs that not only seek to detect computer
viruses, but also block them, disinfect them and prevent their infection, and
now they are capable of recognizing other types of malware, such as spyware ,root
kids, etc.
Each
antivirus can plan the defense in one way, that is, an antivirus can do a
complete, fast or vulnerability scan according to the user's choice.
It
was in 2005 when, after 5 years of sustained trend in which viruses as we knew
them were giving way to worms and Trojans in charge of forming botnets to
obtain money, when they saw that the entertainment that could involve the
creation of Malware could be turned into a very profitable business.
Perhaps
the best proof of this are the so-called Banking Trojans of which there are
thousands of variants since the creators, to make it difficult to detect,
permanently modified their code. This type of malware is currently distributed
through exploits, spam, or through other malware downloaded by the banking
Trojan. This last type of Trojan is in charge of stealing information
related to commercial transactions and / or bank details of the infected user.
Another
latent threat related to profit from malware is spyware and adware, where some Antivirus Software
companies allow users to use their applications in exchange for creators being
able to monitor user activities without their consent.
As
for mobile threats, there is no doubt that the arrival of mobile and wireless
technologies and their constant evolution have revolutionized the way we
communicate and work in recent years. However, the expansion of the use of
this technology has also made it an important attack vector for the malware
industry.
It
was during 2004 that the existence of the first malicious code for mobile
platforms was reported: Cabir. A being, together with ComWar.A, the best known,
the latter not only for its ability to replicate via Bluetooth but also through
text messages with images and sound (MMS), sending themselves to the addresses
and phone numbers of their victims. Currently there is malware for the
most common platforms, such as Symbian, Pocket PC, Palm, etc., the propagation
method being as diverse as the possibilities offered by these technological
advances: SMS, MMS, IrDA, Bluetooth, etc.
Today
the most attacked platform is Windows on 32-bit processors. As we have
mentioned previously, malware creators have seen in this activity an enrichment
method and thinking in economic terms and establishing the widest possible
target, Windows platform users represent 90% of the market. Perhaps
another obstacle that the creators of malware for Linux and Macintosh run into
has to do with the medium / high training of users of this type of platform, so
that Social Engineering, the main method of propagation at present, is not
successful.
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