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What is Antivirus?

“The Definition and Popular 5 examples”

Antivirus

Computer viruses share many similarities with real-life viruses, which is why they were named. However, while the flu season begins in late fall and ends in February, the computer virus season is in full swing throughout the year. To protect your body from viruses, you only need to get vaccinated once a year, at the beginning of the flu season.

What is antivirus software?

When you run a virus scanner, your antivirus program will scan your hard drive and all currently connected storage devices for potential threats. The program will inspect each file individually and simultaneously search its database for known viruses for a possible threat. Doing so, depending on the severity of the threat, will either delete, quarantine, or repair the infected file. The program will also monitor the behavior of all the software on your computer for any alarm signals.

Whereas in the past you had to scan manually, most antivirus programs today allow you to run automatic scans and program controls to best suit your needs. As a rule, it is recommended to perform an automatic scan every week. In addition, you can also perform manual scanners on your computer, and also on specific files and directories. Antivirus scanners are designed as background processes, which means they shouldn't use up a lot of your computing resources or slow down your computer.

As computer viruses are a constant threat on all platforms, today's antivirus software is designed to offer protection on all operating systems and all devices connected to the internet. This includes desktop and laptop computers that use Microsoft Windows and macOS, as well as smartphones that use iOS and Android. Statistics show that more than 360,000 malware components are released every day. For maximum security, the best antivirus software will also automatically update virus definitions at least once a day.  

What types of antivirus software are there?

All antivirus programs are of following three categories:

Standalone antivirus software

Standalone antivirus software is a specialized tool, designed to detect and remove certain viruses. It is commonly known as portable antivirus software because it can also be installed on a USB stick and can be used by administrators to perform emergency scans of an infected system. However, most portable programs are not designed to provide real-time protection and download new definitions daily, which is why they cannot replace internet security packages that include a large variety of extras.

Total Security software packages

As the title indicates, security software packages are more than antivirus programs. In addition to being able to detect and remove viruses, they are also equipped to fight all other spiteful software and provide absolute protection at all times for your computer and files. Most of these software packages include antispyware, firewalls, and parental control components. Some also include an additional feature like password management, VPN (virtual private network), and even a standalone antivirus program built into the package.

Antivirus software in the cloud

Cloud Antivirus Software is a new type of antivirus technology that scans your files in the cloud instead of on your computer, in order to free up your computing resources and allow a faster response. These programs are normally made up of two parts; the client that is installed on your computer and performs periodic virus and malware scanners, without taking up too much memory, and the web service that processes the data collected by the client and inspects it for matches with viruses and malware from its database.

Popular Antivirus Software Examples

With millions of active viruses and harmful programs costing the global economy millions of dollars in losses each year, it is not surprising that there are a large number of antivirus programs available on the market. They are different in terms of price, the platform for which they are designed, functionality, as well as additional components.

Some of the best antivirus programs currently available include the following:

Bitdefender

Bitdefender Total Security is a comprehensive and comprehensive security suite that offers optimal protection against viruses and all other types of malicious software. It is compatible with the four major operating systems and with smart homes. This easy-to-use antivirus software also includes a free VPN with 200MB daily limit, parental controls, webcam protection, password manager, and a tool specifically designed to fight ransomware. This security package is very competitively priced and will give you full protection on up to five devices.

Norton

Symantec's Norton has been around for almost three decades and is undoubtedly one of the most recognized names in cybersecurity. Your Norton Security Premium security software suite is compatible with all four major platforms, as well as smart homes, and includes a variety of excellent components. Although it does not include a free VPN service, it does offer parental controls and a huge 25GB online storage space. This is very positive for multi-device owners, as one license protects up to 10 devices.

Unistal

Protegent 360 antivirus is an award winning complete security software comes with advanced features which provide extremely robust protection against advanced online threats. Protegent 360 not only keeps your computer secured from viruses & other cyber threats but also protects your business data from unauthorized access and data theft. This enables the parents to guide their children in right direction. Protegent360 also provides proactive data recovery module to recover accidentally deleted data in an efficient and effective way. Protegent360 also provides system tune-up utility to enhance the speed of computer. Protegent360 works as parenting software tool which provide complete activity report of child’s computer and internet use.

McAfee

McAfee LifeSafe is unique in offering a single license for up to 100 devices. Compatible with all four major operating systems, this security suite includes superior malware protection for Windows and Android-powered machines, without compromising performance. Although the parental control function is not as advanced as that of the competition, the inclusion of the McAfee True Key password manager more than fixes this lack. It is equipped with the facial recognition function, which will keep all your registration information extra protected.

BullGuard

The next big opportunity is infrastructure.

As AI-powered broadcasting, analytics, and OTT distribution become more accessible, investors are now backing companies building the foundational technology layer for grassroots and semi-professional sports ecosystems.

One of the latest examples is SportVot, the New Delhi-based sports-tech company that has raised ₹32.7 crore to expand its AI-driven sports production and analytics platform globally.

The company is targeting one of the biggest gaps in the global sports economy: millions of sporting events that remain unrecorded, undiscovered, and commercially untapped.

While elite leagues benefit from billion-dollar media rights and advanced broadcasting systems, grassroots tournaments, school competitions, and district-level leagues often lack even basic production infrastructure. SportVot aims to solve that through low-cost AI-powered streaming, scoring, analytics, and white-label OTT tools.

Its hardware-agnostic system allows matches to be captured using smartphones or professional camera setups, significantly lowering the cost of sports digitisation across emerging markets.

The bigger story here is how sports technology investment is shifting toward scalable infrastructure, data monetisation, and AI-enabled media ecosystems rather than purely consumer-facing applications.

I explored how SportVot’s latest funding round reflects this larger transformation in India’s sports-tech landscape and why infrastructure-led growth may define the sector’s next decade.