From time to time, this discussion gets reignited: Is it still correct to use the term \u201cantivirus?\u201d Does it still make any sense to call\u00a0a security solution an \u201cantivirus,\u201d or we should take a shovel and bury it in the salt. Going ahead, we are by no means burying it. Cybersecurity today is much more than just antiviruses, even though these two terms used to be synonymous. Antivirus is still essential, a base, but alone it is no longer enough.<\/p>\n
By inertia<\/strong><\/p>\n The general public and businesses still use the word \u201cantivirus\u201d to describe any kind of security solution. And there are a few reasons for this. The first is, of course, inertia. For many years \u201can antivirus\u201d and \u201ca security solution\u201d were totally synonymous. And while today the security vendors are well aware that their products are much more than just an antivirus, the public may not know it (or may not care). And the word lives on.<\/p>\n When and why #antiviruses appeared? \u2013 An old story #security<\/p>Tweet<\/a><\/blockquote>\n The second reason is the fact that \u201can antivirus\u201d has fewer syllables than \u201ca security solution.\u201d People cling to the \u201cantivirus\u201d word for their comfort, which generates a lot of uncomfortable confusion afterwards. There is an antivirus, which\u00a0is alive and kicking<\/a>, contrary to popular opinion; but besides that there are many other tools created to counter modern threats. And as such a threat, the viruses\u00a0per se are currently the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n While clients have gotten used to calling the security vendors \u201cantivirus companies\u201d, they may be well aware that \u201cantivirus\u201d is not enough today. And the security vendors have to explain to their clients (every time) that they actually provide an\u00a0antivirus and so much more.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why this post is here. We\u2019d like to dust off some long-standing terms so that there is less confusion. We\u2019d rather discourage users from calling modern security solutions \u201cantiviruses,\u201d altogether, but for the reasons mentioned above, the word has stuck.<\/p>\n What is an antivirus?<\/strong><\/p>\n Strictly speaking, an antivirus is a program written with a specific purpose: to neutralize other malicious programs written to inflict harm. The term \u201ccomputer virus\u201d itself was coined in early 1980s after J\u00fcrgen Kraus wrote his diploma thesis \u201cSelf-reproduction of programs\u201d at the University of Dortmund. In this work, Kraus mentioned that computer programs can behave in a way similar to biological viruses.<\/p>\n The term got fixed after 1984 when Fred Cohen from the University of Southern California wrote his paper \u201cComputer Viruses \u2013 Theory and Experiments\u201d, where the experimental program was called \u201ca virus\u201d (as introduced by Cohen\u2019s mentor Leonard Adleman).<\/p>\n In fact, by that time, self-replicating programs already existed, with theoretical work done as early as 1949. At that time John von Neumann at the University of Illinois gave lectures about the \u201cTheory and Organization of Complicated Automata\u201d, and later published a work \u201cTheory of self-reproducing automata\u201d wherein he had actually described a self-reproducing program \u2013 the first \u201ccomputer virus\u201d.<\/p>\n