We can all agree that antivirus is essential tool nowadays because of most breaches that happen all across the globe. Of course, some people think that it cannot happen to them because they are not crucial to the world.
However, that is the main problem, because when hackers or intruders enter your PC, they will try to use all information against you to earn some revenue. You should look at it as a mugging in the virtual sense of the word.
Apart from the problem on which antivirus is the best, today, you cannot protect yourself perfectly with only this particular software. That is why we decided to present you five reasons why antivirus is not enough.
1. Blacklisting is Part of History
The primary basis of every antivirus software is to create security blacklisting, which is the technology that identifies known malware and harmful files that could happen on your device. According to numerous studies, most businesses use the only antivirus to protect their valuable information from APTs (advanced persistent threats).
However, APTs can easily stay undetected on a system or network for that amount of time that allows them to steal any valuable data. That is the main reason why attackers decided to make targeted attacks that could bypass blacklisting, which will enable them to take corporate information that could use afterward to earn more revenue.
The leading example attacks on New York Times, where hackers avoided system detection and stole everything that needed.
2. It Cannot Help You Fight Against Customized Malware Attacks
The most popular way of breaching other systems and networks by hackers is by using malware. Most cyber criminals understood how antivirus software function and they found a way to neglect it. Anti-virus just doesn't have enough capabilities of stopping customized malware attacks.
We have mentioned above blacklisting as the recognition system for bad data and potential malware. However, attackers decided to create more customized and specific malware attacks.
That is how we know about polymeric malware that could target outdated software to perform social engineering. Because of its complexity, most antivirus software hasn't found a way to recognize it on the network or system.
3. Cyber-crime Is Improving
When it comes to cyber attacks and crime, we should know that everything relies on the human factor. When we have in mind that humans also develop antivirus software, we can see the idea. Today, most attacks are sophisticated with customized malware.
At the same time, cyber-crime economy expanded rapidly in the last few years. Therefore, most attackers focus on finding and collecting classified data. Those fraudsters found a way to make the Internet the place of which they are attacking.
According to past studies, for example, Russian cyber-criminal continuously finds a way to improves technologies and to enhance the possibility to attack and make revenue. Everyone is at risk because they know how to apply ransom-ware. Most of these tools can also attack mobile devices.
4. Traditional Antivirus Software Cannot Help You Efficiently
We all know that antivirus software is an essential element in protecting and keeping your computer secure against viruses and some malware. When you install and use right antivirus software, they can analyze file behavior and block any threat that could interfere with your system.
However, it doesn't have enough power to protect you against sophisticated and customized threats and malware such as ZACCESS malware.
5. New Techniques of Breaching
You should have in mind that social engineering will never go out of style. Even if you have reliable antivirus software, it is challenging to stay protected against social engineering attacks through malicious URLs and phishing scams.
Social engineering is great tactics that rely on your human interaction. The idea is to manipulate you into revealing sensitive information by clicking on some links. They find a way to disguise those threats by making them look like official emails from websites that you are working with such as Facebook or any other social media.
You should have in mind that social engineering doesn't require too much expertise. They use this technique as a method to find information about a company. Therefore, we recommend you to establish employee's trust so that you can protect your business against inside leak.
Most social engineering attacks are based on psychological manipulation, which is why you cannot rely on antivirus software. The only goal for attackers is to gain trust by someone around you. That is their way to the confidential data.
Conclusion: It is essential to follow up with the newest trend and to stop relying only on one way of fighting. Using just antivirus can help you protect yourself from harmful viruses and malware that are already known by public and antivirus developers. However, the latest advancement in technology gave the possibility for attackers to mask their attacks, so you have to be extra careful.
If you had any experience with malware, feel free to tell us all about it by commenting on the section below. Cheers!
