Are Viruses Getting Worse?

As you might imagine, we get a lot of email. Most of it is from really nice people all around the world looking for help choosing the best antivirus software for a new computer or are looking to upgrade antivirus software to a newer version.

Although it's asked a million different ways, one of the most common questions that comes from these emails is,

"Do I really need to upgrade my antivirus software or can I just keep getting new definitions?"

There should be no question in anyone's mind that the malware creators are constantly getting smarter and are making their viruses, worms, trojans, keyloggers, and the like more clever and harder to detect. In fact, an article in ZDNet talks about this very problem and that it's getting harder to detect viruses. The article cites, Konstantin Sapronov, one of the Kaspersky antivirus lab heads is paraphrased in the article, saying,

"new methods of infiltration have also rendered it nearly impossible for users to avoid infection, even if they are careful. Seemingly clean sites can also perform backend redirection to malware-ridden sites."

It's definitely a game of cat-and-mouse where the antivirus companies are always on the prowl looking for ways to refine their tools to make them smarter, faster, and more able. Likewise, the malware writers are constantly doing their best to avoid detection.

Do I Need to Upgrade Antivirus Software?

When considering whether to keep your existing software and extend your definition subscription or to purchase new antivirus software or upgrade versions, the buying decision can be boiled down to a few questions: