Learn About PC Virus :: Computer Virus

Learn About PC VirusA computer virus is a potentially damaging computer chopine designed to affect, or infect, yourcomputer negatively by altering the way it works without your knowledge or permission. Morespecifically, a computer virus is a segment of design code that implants itself in a computer fileand spreads systematically from one file to another. Viruses can spread to your computer if aninfected floppy disk is in the disk drive when you boot the computer, if you run an infectedprogram, or if you open an infected data file in a program.Computer viruses, however, do not generate by chance. Creators, or programmers, of computervirus programs write them for a specific purpose usually to cause a certain type of manifestation ordamage. Some viruses ar harmless pranks that simply freeze a computer temporarily or displaysounds or messages. When the Music Bug virus is triggered, for example, it instructs thecomputer to play a few chords of music. Other viruses, by contrast, are designed to destroy orcorrupt data stored on the infected computer. Thus, the type or damage caused by a viruscan be harmless or cause significant damage, as planned by its creator.Viruses constitute become a serious problem in recent years. Currently, more than 45,000 knownvirus programs exist and an estimated six new virus programs are detect each day. Theincreased use of networks, the Internet, and e-mail has accelerated the spread of computerviruses, by allowing individuals to share files and any related viruses more easily than ever.Types of VirusesAlthough numerous variations are known, four main types of viruses exist boot sector viruses,file viruses, Trojan horse viruses, and macro viruses. A boot sector virus replaces the bootprogram used to start a computer with a modified, infected version of the boot program. Whenthe computer runs the infected boot program, the computer loads the virus into its memory. oncethe virus is in memory, it spreads to any disk inserted int o the computer. A file virus attachesitself to or replaces program files the virus then spreads to any file that accesses the infectedprogram. A Trojan horse virus (named after the Greek myth) is a virus that hides within or isdesigned to look like a legitimate program. A macro virus uses the macro language of anapplication, such as word processing or spreadsheet, to hide virus code. When you open adocument that contains an infected macro, the macro virus loads into memory. Certain actions,such as opening the document, activate the virus.