14 DAY TRIAL // The one thing that any PC owner must understand is that the fight against spam, viruses, and all sorts of malicious software seems to be a never ending one. Attackers are constantly coming up with new ways of fooling detection and further propagating their malware. As a matter of fact, the latest trend is to target vulnerabilities in trusted web pages and infect them. According to Eset, company that specializes in providing antivirus software solutions, you must understand the threat before you can protect yourself from it.
There is one key difference between modern and "back in the day" hackers, and that difference is in the purpose of the hack. In the 90s people involved in hacking did it to prove that web security was not as tight as it should have been, they did it for recognition. After a site had been infected, news of it would spread on the internet like wild fire. Modern hackers on the other hand are driven by profit, so they will keep quiet about their successes. The longer malicious software stays under the radar, the more people it can infect, and thus offer higher rewards to the hacker.
While some viruses try to stay hidden and fool the security solution, others ones will attempt to disable it altogether. "Antivirus software and malicious software, however sophisticated, are simply programs that execute within an operating system. The fact that one program can sometimes affect the running of another (and even disable it) is not a bug that needs to be fixed, but a normal function within most operating systems," says the Eset Research Team.
This could happen with any security software currently on the market, even Eset's. It is a very slim chance though, since there are numerous and diverse security mechanisms put in place to prevent such an incident.
There are several preventive measures that every PC user can employ in order to stay secure. Your security software is your first line of defense, so it is vital that it is updated regularly. You should also keep your OS, browser, and other applications up-to-date and fully patched.
If at any time you feel like a web page is spreading malware, do not visit it. It is always best to be cautious, rather than get infected. The biggest security threat would be to download and run any software from such a site.
At all times keep in mind that your security software, regardless of the software provider it came from, is not 100% foolproof. "Anti-virus can't catch everything, even with advanced heuristics like ours," says the research team from Eset.