What is anti-malware software and how does it work?

Cybercriminals are using the most advanced technologies to gain access to your system(s) and steal your sensitive and private data for financial gain. To keep up, cybersecurity vendors are working hard to incorporate these same technologies to stop these modern-day attacks. Whether you are a consumer or a business, this article will help you better understand what malware is and what you can do to stop these continued attacks.

It is often used to steal data for financial purposes. Still, it can be applied as a weapon in state-orchestrated attacks, as a form of protest by hacktivists, or to test the security posture of a system. 

This type of protection software uses a combination of known malware signatures, analysis and behavioral monitoring to detect any malicious activity, and it can identify known and emerging threats.

Every anti-malware software program offers real-time protection, scheduled scans of your entire system, and automatic updates to keep pace with the new malware variants. Modern anti-malware programs remove a broader range of cyberthreats compared to traditional antivirus software, providing sophisticated protection for your personal data, system integrity, and identity theft.

There are various malware types, including viruses, trojans, ransomware, keyloggers and worms.

is malicious code that attaches itself to clean files, replicates them, and tries to infect other clean files. Viruses must be executed and run by an unsuspecting user who opens an infected email attachment, runs an infected executable file, visits an infected website, or clicks on an infected website ad. Computer viruses are rare today, representing less than 10% of all malware.

Trojans are named after the story of the Trojan War, where the Greeks hid inside a wooden horse to infiltrate the city of Troy. Trojan horses (or simply Trojans) disguise themselves as legitimate applications or hide within one. This type of malware acts discretely, opening security backdoors to give attackers or other malware variants easy access to the system.

Ransomware is one of the most dangerous types of malware today and demands special attention. Initially, ransomware was designed to take control of a system, locking users out until they paid the cybercriminal a ransom to restore access. Modern ransomware variants usually encrypt the user's data and may even exfiltrate data off the system to dramatically increase the attackers' leverage over their victims. 

Backdoors are a stealthy method of bypassing normal authentication or encryption on a system. They are used to secure remote access to a system or to obtain access to privileged information to corrupt or steal it. Backdoors may take many forms: as a standalone program, a hidden part of another program, as code in the firmware, or as part of the operating system. While some backdoors are secretly installed for malicious purposes, there are deliberate, widely known backdoors with legitimate uses, such as providing a way for service providers to restore user passwords.

Worms get their name from the way they infect systems. Unlike viruses, they do not need a host file or application. Instead, they infect a system and then self-replicate across other systems through the network, using each consecutive infection to spread further. Worms reside in memory and can replicate hundreds of times, consuming network bandwidth.

Keyloggers record a user's computer activities — keystrokes, visited websites, search history, email activity, chat and messaging communications, and system credentials such as logins and passwords — to steal a user's personal or sensitive information. 

The AV-TEST Institute registers over 350,000 new malicious programs (malware) and potentially unwanted applications (PUA) daily.

Many malware attacks have a combination of ransomware and worms that come as a trojan. Furthermore, malware can consist of hundreds or thousands of modified samples. For example, WannaCry is an example of ransomware that contains both a virus and a trojan. As of the last count, there were many samples of WannaCry as the program was modified. As of 2017, there were 386 WannaCry ransomware samples in the wild, and we expect there to be thousands more samples as of this blog’s publication.

Nowadays, we live in a digital world where most people have at least one PC at home and every business is built on a network of computers. This is why cybercriminals are creating more sophisticated and destructive malware strategies to penetrate the security systems and infect those PCs. Thus, they can steal, encrypt and gain access to data to gain financial benefits from these cyberattacks.

The truth is that 72% of users worldwide have experienced a malware infection. The consequences for business companies are more severe than those a home user faces because a cybercriminal can steal or encrypt sensitive customer data and then demand a ransom to be paid or they’ll sell it on the dark web. Since the COVID-19 crisis hit the world, malware attacks and overall cyberattacks have quadrupled, and the possibility of becoming a victim of malware infection has increased.

One of the most common methods for malware infection distribution is through email attachments. Cybercriminals often camouflage malware samples within seemingly innocent files like PDFs or documents. Thus, we receive emails pretending to be from trustworthy sources, like government agencies, known brands and financial institutions, that ask you to reveal personal information.

If we don't pay enough attention to these suspicious emails and open their attachments, the infected file will spread, and it will take time to compromise the entire system.

How can you recognize such phishing emails? Look for grammar and spelling mistakes in the email, and carefully inspect the sender’s email address. There can also be signs that something is wrong. Do not open this email attachment if you find even one suspicious sign.

Free software, cracked applications and files downloaded from pirate sites are major reasons for malware infiltrating your system. Users seeking to download these items may inadvertently install hidden malicious code, such as a trojan horse, alongside their desired content. It's essential only to download software from reputable sources to minimize risk and avoid installing unknown programs because they open the backdoor to your system for cybercriminals.

Nowadays, the internet is full of malicious websites, and cybercriminals also inject malicious code into legitimate websites. When visiting such compromised sites, malware can automatically download to devices without you noticing. This method is known as a "drive-by download," and it can be extremely harmful because it doesn't require any action from you except visiting the website, thus infecting your system without even noticing. Imagine the consequences this has on your computer or business.

Social engineering is one of the most malicious malware methods because it relies on psychological manipulation to trick users into taking actions that will compromise their security. This malware attack commonly uses phishing emails, fake social media profiles and deceptive pop-ups.

Cybercriminals use human curiosity as a weapon because they push you to click on malicious links or divulge personal, sensitive information, which always leads to installing spyware software on your computer.

Outdated software often contains security flaws that malware can exploit. Cybercriminals actively seek out these vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access to systems. Regular software updates and patches are crucial in closing these security gaps and preventing malware infections that could degrade system performance.

This technique relies on psychological manipulation to trick users into taking actions that compromise their security. Phishing emails, fake social media profiles, and deceptive pop-ups are common tools used in social engineering attacks. By exploiting human trust and curiosity, attackers persuade users to click on malicious links or divulge sensitive information, potentially leading to spyware installation.

Once malware infiltrates a device, it can spread across entire networks, generating suspicious traffic. This is particularly dangerous in business environments where interconnected systems lead to widespread infections. Worms, a type of malware, are specifically designed to replicate and spread autonomously through network connections.

Starting around 40 years ago, anti-malware software used simple signatures in conjunction with a database containing the footprints of known malware. When the anti-malware scanned a computer, it searched for these footprints. If malware is detected, the software either deletes or quarantines it. 

While signature-based anti-malware is still used today, cybercriminals can avoid this approach by changing the code so the signature will not work. This is when heuristics started to appear. Heuristics detection is based on what a program does, and if the program “misbehaves,” it is flagged as malware.

This approach has now evolved into behavioral heuristics, where rules track the programs' behaviors. For example, most legitimate software is not intended to inject itself into system processes, but if it does, it is flagged as malware.

Today, most anti-malware software employs signature detection, behavioral heuristics analysis and an artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML)-based approach. An ML approach is like heuristics analysis, except that the ML algorithm analyzes the program or file and what it looks like.

To do this, it can use behavioral heuristics fed into the model and/or create and continuously improve its behavioral algorithms through continuous training. ML-based systems automate detection with minimal analyst intervention or direct input.

The marketplace offers all three approaches separately or combined, but the ideal solution should combine all three. There is never a guarantee that one type will stop all malware.

Other technologies can detect malware. For example, sandboxing takes a process, puts it into a sandbox (virtual machine (VM)), and makes the malware think it is executing in a real environment. Over time, the software watches the behavior to detect malware. Unfortunately, this process is slow, as some malware does not immediately execute. 

Anti-malware software, also known as anti-virus software, is a critical component of digital security, offering comprehensive protection against a wide range of cyberthreats. This security software safeguards your computer system from various forms of malicious behavior. Here are the key features that make these programs effective:

This feature continuously monitors your system for potential malware. It performs automatic scans of files, downloads, and system processes as they occur, providing immediate protection and helping to prevent malware infiltration.

Anti-malware programs maintain extensive databases of known threats. They compare system files against these signatures to identify quickly and quarantine recognized threats. This is how anti-malware finds many common threats, including viruses.

These advanced techniques allow the software to detect new threats that haven't been previously identified. They analyze the files’ behavior and code structure to spot suspicious characteristics, helping anti-malware work effectively against emerging threats and reduce false positives.

Regular updates ensure the software remains effective against the latest threats. These updates include new malware definitions, improved detection algorithms, and patches to stop malware more efficiently and protect against new tactics from malicious actors.

In addition to real-time protection, anti-malware software typically offers the option to schedule comprehensive system scans. These can be set to run during off-hours to minimize disruption while thoroughly checking for potential malware.

When malware detection occurs, the software isolates the threat in a secure area called quarantine. After analysis, anti-malware removes the identified threats, preventing them from causing further damage to your computer system.

Many anti-malware programs include tools to remove malware and repair system damage caused by infections. This is crucial after anti-malware finds and identifies malware on your system.

This feature blocks access to known malicious websites and scans downloads from the internet, providing an additional layer of security to prevent malware from web-based sources.

Anti-malware software often integrates with email clients to scan attachments and links, protecting users from phishing attempts and email-borne malware.

An advanced anti-malware program is designed to operate efficiently, minimizing its impact on system resources while maintaining robust protection.

Some anti-malware suites include or integrate with firewalls, monitoring network traffic for suspicious activity, and helping to stop malware at the network level.

Modern solutions offer protection across various devices and operating systems, ensuring comprehensive security in our multi-device world.

By combining these features, anti-malware software provides a robust defense against the ever-evolving landscape of cyberthreats. Regular updates and proper configuration of these features are crucial for maintaining optimal protection in an increasingly complex digital environment where new threats constantly emerge.

The top benefit of anti-malware software is that it secures sensitive and personal data and protects a user's systems, applications and data. More specifically, anti-malware software protects a user from:

• Malware, phishing, and ransomware attacks
• Drive-by downloads that occur when a user visits a malicious webpage
• Advanced persistent threats (APT) that are intended to establish an illicit, long-term presence in a network to collect sensitive data or compromise an organization’s operability
• Exploits that utilize zero-day vulnerabilities.
• Data leakage, whether deliberate or due to negligence or mistakes in data handling.

Acronis offers more than an anti-malware solution because it combines data protection, backup, and anti-malware in a single solution.

Acronis True Image is an easy-to-install and manage, efficient, and secure solution that offers individuals the best personal cyber protection available on the market today. Use Acronis True Image to:

• Create full-image backups in two clicks.
• Replicate local backups to the Acronis Cloud.
• Safeguard your data, applications, and devices – including your mobile devices – against the latest malware, including zero-day ransomware and cryptojacking attacks.

What makes Acronis True Image different? it is that is the only personal cyber protection solution that delivers a unique, integrated combination of proven backup technology and antimalware protection that stops even the latest threats. This means you no longer need to purchase a backup solution from one vendor and an anti-virus software from another. Instead, consider Acronis True Image and get the full system and data protection you need with one integrated solution.  

For businesses:

Acronis developed Acronis Cyber Protect to suit the needs of businesses operating in the post-pandemic reality. By providing a unique integration of data protection and next-generation cybersecurity capabilities, Acronis Cyber Protect delivers improved security, lowers costs, and improve efficiencies. The automation and streamlined management empower any business – large or small – to decrease their risk, avoid downtime, and increase their IT team’s productivity.

Acronis Cyber Protect protects endpoints, systems, and data and, among other features, includes AI-based behavioral detection that stops zero-day attacks, URL filtering, vulnerability assessments, videoconference protection, and automated patch management to ensure your business can recover your data and systems in the shortest time possible.  

Anti-malware software is an essential tool for protecting both personal and business digital assets from a wide range of cyberthreats. By utilizing advanced techniques such as real-time scanning, heuristic analysis and ML, these programs offer robust defense mechanisms against known and emerging malware. Regular updates and comprehensive features like web protection, email scanning and system cleanup ensure that users maintain optimal security.