Before we look at protection we need to understand what antivirus software really is. An antivirus application is a program that helps to protect your computer against most viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other unwanted invaders that can make your computer sick or vulnerable. These types of malicious file (viruses, worms, and the like) often perform malicious acts, such as deleting files, accessing personal data, or using your computer to attack other computers. Now that we understand a few consequences of not having antivirus software, we can look at why protection is important.
It's a common misconception that having antivirus software is pointless because they are always out-of-date. Currently antivirus and antivirus suites provide protection against commonly known malicious files as well as common malicious files created from hacking toolkits that are known to antivirus...