Protecting Against the Primary Internet Threats
Viruses, spyware, and other malware are the primary Internet security threats. They can slow down and damage your computer, corrupt your files and documents, and help steal your sensitive information, identity, and even money. The most basic method to detect malware is checking files against a database of known malware, the virus signatures or virus definitions. Heuristics is another popular detection method, particularly to help catch unknown or new malware by analyzing files with an algorithm to find suspicious behavior or code.
Kaspersky Lab deploys both the highly customizable virus signature and heuristic malware detection methods in their products. In addition to the traditional real-time file protection that scans opened, saved, and active files, it has separate scanners for email, web, and IM. Furthermore, all methods are enhanced by the cloud protection. By also consulting with the real-time Urgent Detection System (UDS), the Kaspersky software can protect you against the very latest threats.
Hacking, network attacks, and intrusions are another crucial Internet security threat. Human hackers and/or automated systems called botnets can potentially connect to your computer to infect it (or your entire network), bring it down, take it over, or steal information. The most basic defense against hackers and intrusions is provided by a firewall. It allows or denies the Internet and local network traffic based upon your settings, what programs or ports you allow. However, a basic firewall doesn’t provide full protection against network attacks, such as Denial of Service (DoS) and Buffer overflow attacks. An enhanced firewall or separate component is needed, that’s specifically designed to analyze, detect, and combat these attacks.
Kaspersky Lab’s premium products include a highly configurable 2-way firewall that can regulate incoming and outgoing traffic based upon rules for applications and traffic.
In addition to the typical allow or deny settings, you can customize the exact permissions of programs, such as its read/write access to certain system components.
The cloud protection also provides up-to-date reputation data on programs, which is automatically applied by it assigning programs to the appropriate level of trust. Additionally, a Network Attack Blocker is included. It monitors for network attacks and will automatically block computers when suspicious behavior is detected.
Spam and phishing are two more big Internet threats and usually go hand-in-hand. In addition to being annoying, the majority of spam is phishing scams trying to trick you into handing over personal info, login credentials, or money.
Kaspersky Lab includes spam and phishing protection in their products that uses heuristics, link checking, sender addresses, and phrases to help identify junk or fraudulent messages. The cloud protection helps here too. The links are checked against the UDS database so you’re protected from the latest dangerous sites.
