Understanding Computer Viruses
Basically everyone that owns a PC has at least heard of viruses, but not everyone knows what they really are and how they can attacks your computer. A virus is a small program that can duplicate itself and it invades systems by e-mail attachments, shared files or a Floppy disk. Viruses are created for various reasons, and they can prove to be a dangerous joke or some massive destruction.
As a result, a virus’s effects can vary from activity attacks till total system stop. The virus Wazzu for example attaches itself to word documents and inserts the word ?wazzu? somewhere inside the Word document after rearranging entire rows and placing all letters type randomly.
Other viruses can be more serious, threatening to destroy all data or to delete the hard drive. Such a virus is spread by e-mail mostly. An example would be Worm.ExploreZip, a virus that takes over the Pc and automatically responds to all e-mail messages. It can also send attachments that can delete various types of files.
Viruses don’t and can’t invade a computer without being activated somehow by the user. So you must take a few precautions such as not opening attachments from unfamiliar sources and of course, using some anti-virus software.
Virus types
Getting familiarized with known viruses it will help you prevent an infection.
Virus – a program that attaches itself to .exe files. Each type the program its launched, the virus spreads and attaches to other programs as well. In case these viruses get into share type folders, they can target all computers from the network. Also you are exposed to this virus type when downloading software over the Internet.
Macro- are viruses contained by Marcos for programs such as Office, Word, Excel etc. They are the most common virus types and link themselves to files generated by these programs becoming very hard to detect.
Boot sector viruses – are viruses that attack only a certain type of files from hard and floppy disks that launch when you boot your PC. This is the type of viruses that you can get through a floppy disk.
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Trojans – are not viruses by definition, because they don’t spread. Nevertheless they have the same destroying potential if they are not detected. They usually get to you from an e-mail with a vague title or a fun promise. Once released, the Trojan will let loose a series of attackers that can destroy the hard disk.
If you really want to take the work out of looking for that right Spyware Protection from a Spybot go to the Internet and get a Free Spybot Download or a Spybot Search and Destroy
to prevent your vital information from being ripped from your computer.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Understanding Computer Viruses