Is Your AV Relying On a Single Engine?
Dual-Engine AVs Best Choice to Keep Out Malware
As cyberattacks continue to become more sophisticated, it’s critical to ensure your antivirus/anti-malware solution provides your computer with the best fortification possible. Not all AVs are equally protective; here we examine one aspect of the very best solutions that you should be sure your AV has.
Double the odds
Antivirus software that layers two security engines on top of each other significantly increases its threat detectability. After all, AVs work by identifying malicious content and trapping it before it can do harm to your computer. The PC security company Cyren estimates a dual-engine approach to this can detect up to 99.9% of threats (a good single-engine AV might detect 90 to 95%).
This so-called “layered security” works by deploying two distinct AV engines using different filtering methods to stop malware. The basic idea is that one engine can often detect what the other engine cannot, and vice versa.
Deploy differently
Another way dual-engine security works is by combining engines that analyze billions of pieces of data with engines that deliberately analyze lesser amounts. Allowing each to specifically targeting select types of data can increase overall malware detection rates.
Defense in Depth
This type of AV structure is one example of a broader concept in PC security known as “defense in depth.” In the more general sense, this term means relying on an array of security strategies, not simply on any one approach or technology to block all attacks.
iolo technologies’ System Mechanic Pro®—which combines the industry leading optimization software System Mechanic® with the AV System Shield—adds powerful double-engine antivirus/anti-malware protection to your computer’s arsenal. The antivirus software built into System Mechanic Pro has been evolving and refining its advanced heuristics for nearly two decades to better detect the latest malware and help keep your PC secure.
Another way System Mechanic Pro offers defense in depth is by calling upon both signature-based reactive and behavior-based proactive detection strategies. Together these strategies combine to build two lines of defense to stop known malware threats as well as build a general sense of whether a given file intends to harm your computer.
For an overview of how AVs work most effectively with these two types of detection strategies, click here.
And here we look at steps you can take on your own to keep your PC secure, even after you’ve installed a top-tier antivirus/anti-malware solution.
