“Can you help me, my antivirus software has detected a virus.”
I am always sceptical when I am asked to help in such a case. Why?
If an antivirus software has detected a virus (let’s call it a virus for now, although it’s not the correct technical term in most cases), there are different scenarios which have to be taken into account:
The antirus software has detected a virus, but the virus is not active.
This situation can be compared to a hunter, who keeps his shotguns in his house. The shotguns may be dangerous, but if they are locked away in a safe, they won’t harm neither deer nor family member. To become dangerous, the hunter has to load the gun, and he has to pull the trigger, of course.
In computer terms, the antivirus software often detects a virus in files that represent your e-mail folders. The mail that is containing the virus is not dangerous, unless you pull the trigger, i.e. you execute the attachement.
If the antivirus software detects a virus that is not active, and you decide to delete the file containing the virus, you may end up without your e-mails. So you should double-check where the virus was found. In many cases, you can simply delete a certain mail to be on the safe side again.
The antivirus software has detected a virus where there is no virus.
This is called “False Positive” and happens from time to time. If the user is unsure about the computer usage in general and specifically about the messages of his antivirus software, he will tend to delete the file with the help of his security software. The consequences may be hard, if his operating system fails to start upon next boot.
The antivirus software has detected an active virus.
If this is the case, your software has failed. The virus has become active, and it is very difficult to regain a “healthy” computer again. Your so-called security software may delete some virus-related files, but can you be sure that all viral files are deleted? No! So in that case, it is recommended to format the hard drive and re-install the operating system.
The antivirus software prevents you from executing a file you thought was clean, but it was actually a virus.
This is the only scenario I can imagine where an antivirus software makes sense. If your antivirus software has prevented you from pulling the trigger: Congratulations. But since there does not exist a perfect antivirus solution, you have to ask yourself: How many times did I pull the trigger and my software remained silent?
Most of the people I know don’t realize that installing an antivirus software as a single measure doesn’t help you to avoid infections with computer malware. You have to realize that every antivirus software has fundamental restrictions; you can’t substitute your brain with a piece of software. Instead of buying expensive but ineffective pieces of code, i suggest to train your brain, to get to learn more about the way a computer virus is activated and to try to avoid the common pitfalls of computer security. More on this to come later on this blog.
