Computer Viruses – what are they? A virus is a small program written to change or delete files on your computer. A virus can have a devastating effect on your computer.
They “piggyback” onto programs or embed themselves into your computer files. Each time you run a program with a virus in it, the virus does what it was created to do, such as: if you are running word processing software that is infected with a virus, it will run at the same time; also, it can replicate itself and invade or infect other programs or files on your computer.
Types of Viruses:
Email Viruses: An e-mail virus moves through your e-mail messages, and sometimes will send infected e-mail to everyone in your address book; it then replicates itself on other names that are in the recipients’ e-mail address book.
Worms: A worm is a small program that uses networks through security holes in your browser’s software. It can also replicate itself.
Trojan Horses: A simple program that claims to do one thing but does another. It could claim to be a game, but instead causes damage when you run the program; it could erase your hard drive clean; or it could just start deleting files from your hard drive.
Boot Sector Viruses:
These viruses have the ability to load a small program into memory, so they can stay activated in the background as long as the computer is running. This gives the virus a much more effective way to replicate itself. They also have the ability to infect the boot sector of your hard drive and/or storage device. They can change the way your computer will boot up by putting a small program into the boot sector, which will then execute when your computer reads the hard drive or other boot devices. This way, it will remain running as long as the computer is turned on. Sharing your software, which can be a diskette or CD with a virus in it, will help spread it faster.
E-Mail Viruses:
E-mail viruses such as the Melissa virus in March of 1999 was a huge-spreading virus, it was spread by using Microsoft Word documents sent as attachments in e-mail.
How to help Prevent Viruses:
Here are a few simple steps to help you prevent your computer from getting infected with a computer virus:
1st: Install a good anti-virus program (such as Norton, MacAfee, or AVG) onto your computer. Any of these programs will help stop your computer from being infected with a virus. Also, remember to keep your anti-virus software updated weekly with the latest updates.
2nd: Run your anti-virus program at least once a week, by doing a full virus scan.
3rd: Avoid downloading from unknown sources, like free Internet sites and gaming sites; music sites can also contain viruses on their servers.
4th: Be cautious in opening email attachments. Bad guys can change even supposedly harmless files with extensions like .jpg, .gif, and .xls into dangerous files. A good rule is to open only attachments you are expecting from a known source. If in doubt, write the sender asking if he sent you the attachment. Any files with the extension of .exe, com., .vbs or .bat is an executable file which will run as soon as you click onto it. Once you click on it, you are giving it permission to do anything on your computer that it was designed to do.
Remember: (1) have an anti-virus program installed onto your hard drive, (2) keep it updated, and (3) run your anti-virus program at least once a week.
Hope this will help you in keeping your data safe.
Tony Zanini
(Dr. Z.) of Quality Computers