What Are the Advantages and Limitations of Cloud Antivirus?

It seems that all the applications we use on our computers are currently being migrated to the cloud. E-mail, chatting, document, and image editing - more and more we use cloud solutions for almost everything ... Even cloud antivirus solutions work in your browser. cloud antivirus can be helpful, but it doesn't replace installed antivirus software - antivirus is one area based on browser applications, just don't cut it down.

However, cloud antivirus applications have a number of advantages and can be very useful for quickly scanning your PC for malware. Just don't make them your only defense!

How Cloud Antivirus Works?

When you use cloud antivirus, you go to an antivirus web page and click the Scan button on the web page. The antivirus will download to your computer and start. In some cases, the scanner may use ActiveX (for Internet Explorer) or Java to launch in your browser after a confirmation message.

In other cases,  you may be prompted to download an application and run it on your computer. After launching the cloud antivirus, it will check your system for potential threats and warn you about them. Depending on the cloud antivirus, it may not remove detected viruses or perform only quick scans for viruses and other malware, but not detailed ones.

Cloud Antivirus Limitations

Cloud antivirus programs have been around for a long time, which used ActiveX and only supported Internet Explorer.

No real-time scanning

All cloud antiviruses have one significant limitation - they cannot run in the background. The importance of background scanning cannot be overstated.

just don't cut it. Antivirus that runs in the background scans each program before it starts. While no antivirus is 100% successful, this on-access scan should ideally prevent viruses from running in the first place.

If you are using a cloud antivirus instead of the antivirus installed on your system, the malware will run and work on your system. Between when malware starts running and when you scan with your Cloud antivirus, malware can sit in the background, stealing credit card numbers and other sensitive data from you, and sending it to unscrupulous people over the Internet.

It can also download new pieces of malware from the Internet, filling your memory full of malicious software. Once a virus is installed, it is also more difficult to remove and may disguise itself as antivirus applications.

Some people think they don't need an antivirus because they are careful on the Internet - the truth is they are careful on the Internet

It helps a lot, antivirus applications are an important layer of security. You can compromise a webpage loading in a fully patched browser with fully patched plugins

if your browser or Flash plugin has a zero-day vulnerability that is not yet fixed. In other words, you may be infected through no fault of your own.

You shouldn't let this stop you from surfing the Internet, as it is very rare, but it does show that antivirus applications play an important role, even for the most cautious netizens.

Benefits of Cloud Antivirus

However, Cloud antiviruses offer some important benefits:

• They can scan your computer quickly: Cloud Antivirus allows you to quickly scan your computer for viruses, even if it does not have antivirus (or if it has a terribly outdated antivirus installed). No lengthy installation process required - just a quick scan in minutes.
• They are always up to date: Cloud antivirus programs are always up to date. When you can with one of them, you don't have to worry about downloading the latest virus definitions - a cloud antivirus comes with them.
• They will give you a second opinion: If your computer is already running an antivirus program, you can run a quick scan with a Cloud antivirus program to get a second opinion and double-check your system. While you shouldn't install multiple antivirus programs on your system as they will interfere with each other, and Cloud antivirus tool that performs a quick scan of your system without running in the background shouldn't cause any problems.

The good news is that you don't need to spend money to run a high-quality antivirus on your system. There are quite a few free antivirus apps that you can download for free. Popular ones include Microsoft Security Essentials, Protegent, and AVG.