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DEMO: Antimalware

Anti-malware and antivirus software protects computers by detecting and removing malicious programs designed to damage systems, steal data, or hold files for ransom. This content covers common malware types, third-party tools, and the built-in Windows security options available today.

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About this video

Malware refers to any software deliberately designed to cause harm to a computer system, and it takes many forms. A virus, for example, is malicious code that embeds itself into other programs and spreads damage throughout the system. Ransomware is another common threat, encrypting a user's files and demanding payment before restoring access. Because viruses are just one type of malware among many, the industry has largely shifted to the broader term anti-malware to describe protective software that guards against the full range of threats. For years, third-party tools like Malwarebytes, AVG, and Norton were the standard approach to endpoint protection, offering both free and paid tiers with active scanning and threat removal. These tools remain useful, particularly Malwarebytes as a secondary scanner when a specific infection is suspected and needs deeper investigation. However, the built-in virus and threat protection included with Windows has matured considerably and now provides a solid baseline of defense for most users without requiring additional software. Windows Virus and Threat Protection is accessible directly from the Start menu and displays the current threat status, the date and file count of the last scan, and options to run a new quick scan on demand. For everyday use, this built-in solution handles routine protection effectively. When additional assurance is needed or a threat is suspected, layering it with a tool like Malwarebytes gives users a more thorough second line of defense.

What you'll learn

Describe the purpose of anti-malware software and identify common malware types, including viruses and ransomware
Locate and initiate a virus and threat protection scan using Windows built-in security tools

What's covered

Anti-Malware & Anti-Virus

What is Malware
- Unwanted Damaging Programs
- Virus Example
- Ransomware Example
Anti-Malware Software
- Malwarebytes
- AVG
- Norton
- Paid and Free Options
Windows Built-In Protection
- Virus & Threat Protection
- Runs Automatic Scans
- Improved Over Time
Running a Scan
- Quick Scan Option
- Use Malwarebytes if Concerned

Aligned to

CompTIA Tech+

6.2 Explain methods to secure devices and best practices.

CompTIA A+ Core 2

2.3 Given a scenario, detect, remove, and prevent malware using the appropriate tools and methods.

2.4 Explain common social-engineering attacks, threats, and vulnerabilities.

2.5 Given a scenario, manage and configure basic security settings in the Microsoft Windows OS.

3.3 Given a scenario, use best practice procedures for malware removal.

Key terms

Malware: Software specifically designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to a system.
Virus: Malicious code that attaches itself to legitimate programs and replicates when executed.
Ransomware: A type of malware that encrypts a victim's files and demands payment in exchange for the decryption key.
Antivirus: Software designed to detect, prevent, and remove malicious software from a system.
Anti-Malware: Software that detects, prevents, and removes a broad range of malicious software threats, including viruses, spyware, and ransomware.

Topics

Antimalware Endpoint Security Windows Security Malware Types Ransomware Virus Protection Cybersecurity

Transcript

Malware and Anti-malware

There's another piece of software that's critical to the security of your machine, and that's anti-malware, or antivirus. Viruses and malware are unwanted programs and software that are designed to cause damage to your machine, or to be able to leverage it somehow, or to be able to steal data from it — something that will cause problems on your machine. We need to get rid of that stuff and detect it right away, so it doesn't turn into any big issue.

There are specific programs and code that's created and engineered to cause problems on your computer, and we call it malware. Some examples of malware might be like a virus. A virus is lines of code that causes destruction on your computer, that gets inserted into other programs. It's called a virus just like we would have a virus, something that would get into us and cause a sickness — same thing for your computer. So that's one thing that we need to watch out for.

There are other programs — maybe it's some sort of virus or something — that will encrypt files on your computer, and then you don't have access to those until you pay some sort of ransom. The person that's doing the hacking, or has put out the program, is requiring you to pay money to have those unencrypted so you can have access to it again.

So those are just a couple of examples. Your computer needs some sort of antivirus on it, or what we call now anti-malware, because a virus is not the only malware that's out there. So we have anti-malware installed on your computer that's actively seeking for these types of files, so it never gets put on the computer to begin with, or if it does end up on the computer, that it gets caught right away.

Software You Can Install

Let's go over a few examples of software you can install on your computer to protect it. One example is Malwarebytes. I'm a big fan of Malwarebytes and I used it quite a bit a long time ago. Same thing with AVG — I was a big fan of AVG, but haven't used it for a long time. Norton I never was a big fan of, but it was something that was really popular and used to protect your computer. All three of these I think have both paid and free subscriptions, although I'm not sure about the Norton one.

Essentially, something like this was necessary — you had to install it to make sure your computer was safe. Although I wouldn't necessarily say that's the case anymore, and the reason is because the built-in software on Windows now does a really good job. At least on Windows — I'm not sure about the other systems, but on Windows the built-in software does a really good job. At least that's what I've seen. It didn't do a great job in the past, but now I find that it protects your computer really well.

The Built-in Protection

Let's take a look at the built-in software on the computer. I'm going to open up the start menu and I'm going to just start by typing in "anti", and we're going to click on antivirus and threat protection. It pulls up here and we can see this is the virus and threat protection, and the current threat — there's no current threats on here. The last scan was a few days ago, so if I want to do another scan I could do that. This is how many files were scanned, and nothing was found. So this is the built-in protection, and like I say, I found it to be quite adequate most recently.

If I wanted to do another scan, I could just hit a quick scan here, and then it would start that scan to scan through those files again. So if I had any concern, then I could do that. If for some reason, let's say, I found something, or I still had a concern, that's where I'd use Malwarebytes a lot. I'd then download Malwarebytes and do a scan using Malwarebytes to see where that virus was.

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