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Thursday, March 8, 2012

Different Types of Computer Viruses

There are a multitude of different types of computer viruses; the usual suspects that come to mind are 'file infecting' viruses, Worms and Trojans. All computer viruses and even real genetic viruses that infect our bodies have one sole purpose - to replicate!

For some computer viruses this is their only mission, but often they have intent to cause severe harm and total destruction. Although some viruses are known to do little harm - they should never be deemed harmless.

File Infectors (aka a virus)

More commonly known to you as a virus, file infectors are the backbone to the majority of virus adaptations that are out there. A file infector is run or 'awoken' by an executable file (.exe) being run, either by the user or a program the user is using. Once launched, the virus begins its tasks that were given to it by the coder.

Trojans or Trojan Horses


Inspired by the Greek strategic masterpiece that met the walls of Troy, Trojans or Trojan horses often disguise themselves as useful programs, whilst the user accepts it into their system.

Trojans are often used by computer 'hackers' to use your PC and Internet connection as ammunition. With the Trojan safely inside your system, the 'hackers' can launch this virus and gain control over your system. Often the infected get their computer commanded to send packets of data through the internet at a specific target. With enough computers infected, the data overload can take down any website or server.

Worms

A Worm is a virus targeted to spread incredibly fast through a network. It does not need to attach itself to an already existing program to spread, so it can easily send copies of itself to other terminals on the network.

Worms can and will cause harm to any network, at the very least it will consume massive amounts of bandwidth.

Protect Yourself

Fortunately, anti-virus software can protect our personal and business systems from all the different types of computer viruses.

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