Introduction to PC Tools AntiVirus

The chances of receiving or being infected by a computer virus or other related malware threat such as a worm or Trojan horse increases as the number of computer users accessing the Internet and communicating via e-mail rises around the world. Computers infected with these threats can exhibit erratic system behavior, impaired system performance and in more serious cases, result in data loss.

Viruses and other related malware threats possess the following specific characteristics:

• Viruses are self-replicating programs that can perform unauthorized activities on the host computer when run or opened. An important feature of viruses is that they are capable of infecting a clean file, by either inserting or attaching their code to the file. This is usually done as an unauthorized action, without the user's knowledge. A virus can propagate on the host computer if the user runs or opens successively infected files. Other activities of viruses can range from relatively benign behaviors, such as consuming computer resources, through to more malicious properties, such as destroying data. Viruses can be spread from one computer to another through a network, e-mail or the Internet.

• Worms, like viruses, are self-replicating programs that can also perform unauthorized activities on the host computer. Unlike viruses, worms are self-contained and do not need to infect other files on the host computer in order to propagate themselves. Worms can spread from one computer to another using a variety of Internet- and network-based mechanisms, including e-mail, backdoors, instant messaging and peer-to-peer networks. Worms can possess any number of activities ranging from the consumption of network traffic through to more serious activities such as the deletion of files on the host computer.

• Trojan horses are malicious programs that are disguised as legitimate, harmless software. Unlike viruses and worms, Trojan horses do not replicate themselves. Trojan horses typically rely on enticing and fooling the recipient into running the program, upon which it infects and begins performing unauthorized activities on their computer. Once a computer is infected, the Trojan horse can spread itself to other computers using a variety of Internet- and network-based mechanisms, including e-mail, backdoors and peer-to-peer networks.

• In recent times, some viruses have made use of stealthier Internet- and network-based mechanisms involving e-mail and file sharing in order to spread, making them more similar in behavior to Worms.

PC Tools AntiVirus is designed to protect your computer against virus, worm and Trojan horse threats by:

• scanning your computer system for these types of infections and quarantining or deleting them

• providing your computer system with real-time background protection, preventing threats from infecting your computer and propagating while you work.