Having an antivirus on your computer is very important if you always leave your PC connected to the internet. This is because the mere fact that your machine is online already makes it susceptible to being affected by viruses, and your PC can be infected in a number of ways.

You might download an app with malware or click on an unknown link in your email, and voila, the damage is done. Once viruses have installed themselves on your computer, they can encrypt your machine, making it impossible for you to use it. If you don’t want this to happen, it’s a good idea to have an antivirus program.

Read also: What are the best mobile antiviruses in 2023?

What types of antivirus are there? 

First, we have the most basic software, which is Standalone. With it, you have help to protect your system against malware. Next, we can mention the internet security antivirus. It can offer greater support than the first one mentioned, with the help of protection against phishing. 

In addition, there is cloud-based antivirus that stores your information securely outside of your PC. Businesses also need to have a strong antivirus. After all, they deal with sensitive data that cannot be leaked or lost. A network antivirus is capable of protecting an entire network, installed on just one device.

Now that you know about these programs, we'll tell you why it's important to have an antivirus on your computer.

Alerts

With an antivirus on your PC, you receive warnings about potential dangers that could mess up your machine. Whenever an update is needed to keep your computer safe, it notifies you. In addition, if it finds a malware file or if you try to access a malicious website, the software warns you. 

Frequent scans

When you install an antivirus on your computer, you can count on frequent scans of files, folders, programs and your PC's memory. These searches are performed with the aim of identifying whether there is any malicious code on your machine. You can decide how often the scans should be performed or let them be done automatically. 

Rapid malware detection

Security programs quickly identify what could be disrupting the way your PC works. This is because they use several methods to detect bad things, such as scanning files for known virus and trojan patterns, using only signature algorithms.

Does not affect your computer's performance

Installing an antivirus is not limited to defending against cyber threats. After all, it can be used to improve the efficiency of your computer. These programs are continuously optimized and operate discreetly, consuming few resources.

Rapid action against threats 

Installing an antivirus on your computer ensures that threats will be eliminated quickly. After all, as soon as a file is opened, downloaded or used, the software starts analyzing whether it has any malicious pattern. If it does, the antivirus prevents it from working and eliminates the threat.

Business care

You should also use an antivirus on your business PC, as it helps you monitor and manage all network activity from just one device. In other words, all data about the health of your company's computers is controlled centrally. Your security team will undoubtedly thank you for it. 

Protection for your sensitive data

A good antivirus comes with built-in filters that can identify fraudulent websites. Scammers often use this trick to try to trick victims into entering their confidential information, such as financial information, on fake pages that look like legitimate banking websites. The antivirus can alert and block such attempts.

Reinforced defense with firewall

An antivirus on your computer gives you access to an enhanced protection feature called firewall. It acts as a protective barrier, monitoring and controlling incoming and outgoing traffic from your computer. In addition, the firewall is able to decide what information can or cannot pass between your network and the Internet. 

Control of external devices

Devices external to your computer can be carriers of cyber threats. If they are infected, they end up executing malicious files, putting your PC at risk. Precisely to prevent this from happening, you need an antivirus. After all, it acts as a guardian, offering the ability to monitor the activity of external devices. 

No spam

Spam can cause you much more serious headaches than just one message sent multiple times. This is because it can be accompanied by threats to your computer. To eliminate this possibility, antivirus offers a very valuable feature: the ability to filter and prevent spam.

Sandboxing feature

Antivirus software also has a sandboxing feature. This feature allows security software to isolate and execute files in a virtual environment separate from the main system. This way, you can prevent potential damage, because even if a file contains threats, they are contained in this isolated environment.

Protection with encryption

Data encryption is a great tool that comes with antivirus software. It protects your computer’s files even if someone manages to access them without authorization. This is because attackers won’t have the key to decrypt your files.

Your computer is safer with antivirus

As noted, the need for an antivirus for your computer's security is undeniable. After all, we live in a world that keeps us exposed to threats. Therefore, we cannot afford to be careless and leave our machines unprotected. 

By using an antivirus on your PC, you will have excellent benefits, from timely alerts about security updates to the rapid detection and elimination of threats. Therefore, if you do not want your confidential information to be leaked through malware, be sure to use protection software.