Antivirus vs. Antimalware

July 19, 2016 8:00 am

There is a lot of confusion about what exactly are antivirus and antimalware, and what which one works best. Well in order to find out what their purposes are, we must clear out what viruses and malware actually are.

A virus is a code within a program that can copy itself over and can cause damage to a computer by corrupting the system and, even, destroying data.

Malware, on the other hand, is a general word for any malicious infection. This includes Trojans, Spyware, worms, adware, ransomware, and (you guessed it) viruses.

Now that this is cleared out, you are probably wondering why antivirus exists when antimalware can take care of it. Well, let’s get into the differences between these two security software.

Antivirus software was created during the uprising of computers and the Internet. Therefore, this security software was created to tackle older forms of infections, like Trojans, viruses and worms. They are programmed to protect computer users from any traditional malware that are predictable and, still, dangerous.  

Opposite to antivirus, antimalware was created more recently as newer threats began to rise. These malware tend to be much less predictable since new ones are constantly being created and released at high speeds. Antimalware seeks out for more dangerous threats than those that antivirus programs are used to handling.

With that said, if you are wondering which one should be used, the answer is both. You want to protect your computer from all malware, whether it is predicted or unpredicted.

If you need more advice on which antivirus and/or antimalware programs are best, contact M&H for help!

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