Many users find it hard to choose the right Anti-Virus solution from a huge list of products available in the market while some of them continue to use their trusted AV Program they have been using over several years. It would be worthwhile to realize some of the myths floating around and clear the air before you decide upon a good Anti-Virus product

We all understand that an Ant-Virus is primarily used to protect our computer from Viruses and Malware. However we were surprised to know the knowledge level of users we interacted with. The Myths and Reality statement below is an extract of talks with some Customers and Resellers

Myth:: Antivirus is not important, it is just a small part of total data management solution.
 

Reality:: Malware is the  biggest headache for PC users and enterprise IT administrators. Antivirus protection is becoming more important than ever.
 

Myth:: Anti-Virus Software do not really need 99% detection, it should strive to protect users from the threats they most frequently encounter. Detection level is not that important
 

Reality:: If the antivirus solution has less than 99% detection, your PC  is almost guaranteed to be infected.
 

Myth:: Virus signature scanning approach is dead. Heuristics/proactive technology GUARANTEE higher level of protection with low performance impact

Reality:: NO. Heuristics can achieve even 80% detection. High heuristic detection rate is guaranteed to generate tons of false positives. The combination of Signature and Heuristics is ideally suited for protection.
 

Myth:: My Anti-Virus is not using System Resource as much as yours

Reality:: Most Anti-Virus programs use up similar level of system resources. Its important to note the user setting of your AV product. If it is set to 'Fast' , the virus detection rate maybe low.  The trade off here is that one has to sacrifice security if speedy performance alone is the criteria.