Why didn’t my antivirus program catch that virus?

Let me start by saying that nothing is 100% secure. You can have the best of the best and keep it up to date on a strict schedule, and it’s still not going to be perfect. But, you can follow some simple guidelines to help keep the “black hats” from getting to your system.

I had a person tell me that they had an antivirus program installed but the computer got infected anyway. After looking at the system, the program hasn’t been updated in over two years. Antivirus programs will only protect you from viruses it knows about. If it doesn’t know what to look for, it can’t stop it.

Here’s how it works:

There are very few bad guys that write their own viruses. The rest of them make copies of the original, change it to give it their own “personal touch” then send it out across the internet. The antivirus software companies need to get a copy of the virus, see what makes it tick, then create an update to protect their customers. Most antivirus companies are very good at posting updates several times a day.

Tips to make your antivirus software better:

• Open your antivirus program and find the section where you can edit its settings
• Make it check for updates every hour. I’ve seen some programs default to once a week.
• Look for a section that deals with the virus. Sometimes, you’ll have options of what to do with the virus after it detects one. Make sure that it is set to quarantine the virus. You can set it to delete the virus, but every once in a while, it may mistake a program or document that you need as a virus and delete it. I’ve seen programs that tell you it found a virus, but doesn’t take any action because it was set for “report only”.
• If your virus scanner is active (constantly scans your system), that’s great, but everyone should still schedule a complete system scan every day.
• If your program will send an email to you when it detects a virus, do so. You should always double check that the virus has been taken care of as soon as possible.
• Your program should tell you where on your system it found the virus and the name associated with it.

1. Go to that folder and check to make sure your program removed the virus.
2. Check the quarantine folder to make sure it’s there.

• Investigate your virus. Check with the website of your antivirus program’s manufacturer. You should be able to look up the name of the virus and see what kind of damage it causes. You may have to do a little extra work to completely remove all traces of the virus.

With an average of 4 new viruses infecting the internet every hour, it’s imperative that you protect yourself before the bad guys get to you.

If your company has multiple computers and you can’t find the time to maintain your computers as you should, then you need to hire someone to do it for you. Call Networthy Systems. We will proactively take care of your network with our “Hassle Free Platinum Plan”. Call for more details.

Thanks for reading.

Thomas Johnsen - CCNA, MCSE+Security, MCDST, A+, Net+, Security+
Lead Engineer
Networthy Systems
6950 College Street Ste. G
Beaumont, Texas 77707
(409) 861-4450
http://www.networthysystems.com