Real-time protection
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Real-time protection, on-access scanning, background guard, resident shield, autoprotect, and other synonyms refer to the automatic protection provided by most antivirus, antispyware, and other antimalware programs, which is arguably their most important feature. This monitors computer systems for suspicious activity such as computer viruses , spyware, adware, and other malicious objects in 'real-time', in other words while data is coming into the computer (for example when inserting a CD, opening an email, or surfing the web) or when a file already on the computer is opened or executed, in other words loaded into the computer's active memory.[1] This means all data in files already on the computer is analysed each time that the user attempts to access the files. This can prevent infection by not yet activated malware that entered the computer unrecognised before the antivirus received an update. Real-time protection and its synonyms are used in contrast to the expression "on-demand scan" or similar expressions that mean a user-activated scan of part or all of a computer.
Even free antivirus programs nowadays usually have real-time protection, but it is often only in the pay versions (often called "pro") of other antimalware programs.
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[edit] Detection
Real-time protection continuously monitors the user's system by (in the background) scanning all incoming files for malicious software. When .exe files, spyware, or other parasites are detected, they are blocked and a pop-up asks for the user's consent to allow the object access to the system, much like a firewall does. Users can either allow or remove the object, which may lead to people allowing malicious software to enter the system.
[edit] List of free antivirus programs with real-time protection
- avast!
- AVG
- Antivir Personal Edition Classic
- AOL Active Virus Shield
- Comodo AntiVirus
- ClamAV
- PC Tools AntiVirus
[edit] List of free antispyware programs with real-time protection
- BitDefender
- Spybot Search & Destroy (reduced functionality called "TeaTimer")
- SpywareGuard (only active against browser hijacking, spyware definitions not maintained since January 2004) [1]
- Spyware Terminator[2] (see this discussion for details on its trustworthiness)
- Windows Defender
