Computer Viruses

Essay by matthew_west87College, UndergraduateA, November 2007

download word file, 9 pages 1.0

What is a Computer virus?

Computer viruses are software programs deliberately designed to interfere with computer operation, record, corrupt, or delete data, or spread themselves to other computers and throughout the Internet. Viruses often slow things down and cause other problems in the process. Basic viruses typically require unwary computer users to unconsciously share or send them. Some viruses that are more sophisticated, such as worms, can replicate and send themselves automatically to other computers by controlling other software programs, such as an e-mail sharing application. Certain viruses, called Trojans, can falsely appear as a "beneficial" program to entice users into downloading them. To help avoid viruses, it's essential that you keep your PC current with the latest updates and antivirus tools, and that you follow a few basic rules when surfing the Internet, downloading files, and opening attachments. Once a virus is on your computer, its type or the method it used to get there is not as critical as removing it and preventing further infection.

These issues and more will be discussed further on in this report.

Types of viruses

There are many different types of viruses circulating the world. Below is a list of the major types of virus's that may affect a PC.

Boot viruses: These viruses infect floppy disk boot records or master boot records in hard disks. They replace the boot record program, copying it elsewhere on the disk or overwriting it. Boot viruses load into memory if the computer tries to read the disk while it is booting. Examples: Form, Disk Killer, Michelangelo, and Stone virus

Program viruses: These infect executable program files, such as those with extensions like .BIN, .COM, .EXE, and .SYS. These programs are loaded into memory during execution, taking the virus with them. The virus becomes active in...