Description: This method involves comparing files against a database of known malware signatures (unique patterns or characteristics of known threats). It works well for detecting known threats but cannot identify new or modified malware that doesn’t match existing signatures.
Advantages:
Fast and efficient for known threats.
Low false positive rate.
Disadvantages:
Ineffective against new, unknown malware.
Requires frequent updates to the signature database.
Heuristic-Based Detection:
Description: This approach analyzes the behavior and characteristics of files and programs to identify potentially malicious activities or code. It can detect new or unknown malware by looking for suspicious behavior or code patterns.
Advantages:
Capable of identifying previously unknown malware.
Detects new variants of existing malware by examining behavior rather than signatures.
Disadvantages:
May produce false positives, as it sometimes flags benign programs with unusual behavior as malicious.
Requires more computational resources and sophisticated analysis techniques.
Behavioral-Based Detection:
Description: Monitors the behavior of programs during execution to detect malicious activities. It looks for actions such as unauthorized file modifications, suspicious network activity, or system changes that are indicative of malware.
Advantages:
Can detect malware based on its actions rather than its code.
Effective against zero-day threats and polymorphic viruses.
Disadvantages:
May impact system performance due to constant monitoring.
Can produce false positives if legitimate programs exhibit similar behavior to malware.
Combining Approaches
Many modern antivirus solutions use a combination of signature-based, heuristic-based, and behavioral-based detection methods to provide comprehensive protection. This multi-layered approach helps in identifying both known and unknown threats more effectively.
