<P> Antivirus software (anti-virus software or AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware . </P> <P> Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name . However, with the proliferation of other kinds of malware, antivirus software started to provide protection from other computer threats . In particular, modern antivirus software can protect from: malicious browser helper objects (BHOs), browser hijackers, ransomware, keyloggers, backdoors, rootkits, trojan horses, worms, malicious LSPs, dialers, fraudtools, adware and spyware . Some products also include protection from other computer threats, such as infected and malicious URLs, spam, scam and phishing attacks, online identity (privacy), online banking attacks, social engineering techniques, advanced persistent threat (APT) and botnet DDoS attacks . </P> <P> Although the roots of the computer virus date back as early as 1949, when the Hungarian scientist John von Neumann published the "Theory of self - reproducing automata", the first known computer virus appeared in 1971 and was dubbed the "Creeper virus". This computer virus infected Digital Equipment Corporation's (DEC) PDP - 10 mainframe computers running the TENEX operating system . </P> <P> The Creeper virus was eventually deleted by a program created by Ray Tomlinson and known as "The Reaper". Some people consider "The Reaper" the first antivirus software ever written--it may be the case, but it is important to note that the Reaper was actually a virus itself specifically designed to remove the Creeper virus . </P>

When was the name of the first malicious software detected on a pc