Viruses

A computer virus is a program that spreads malicious code by copying itself

and infecting host computers. Although some viruses are latent, others can
corrupt data or impede system performance. Many viruses attach
themselves to legitimate executable fles (.exe fles) on a host computer that
allow the virus to be loaded when the user opens the fle.
A virus generally will be activated when it is loaded into a computers
memory, and then it may continue to spread its viral code into a number of
other programs and fles stored on the host computer. he computers
programs may still continue to wor! normally, but also spread the virus code
to other machines on the same networ!, or machines that use the same
storage devices.
"omputer viruses are never naturally occurring# they are always man$made.
%nce created and released, however, their spread is not directly under
human control.
Macro viruses: A macro is a piece of code that can be embedded in a data
fle. A macro virus is thus a virus that exists as a macro attached to a data
fle. &n most respects, macro viruses are li!e all other viruses. he main
di'erence is that they are attached to data fles (i.e., documents) rather than
executable programs.
(ocument$based viruses are, and will li!ely continue to be, more prevalent
than any other type of virus.
)hat are the symptoms of a computer virus*
+our computer may be infected if you recogni,e any of
these malware symptoms-
.low computer performance
/rratic computer behavior
0nexplained data loss
1re2uent computer crashes
Worms
A computer worm is a standalone malware computer program that
replicates itself in order to spread to other computers. %ften, it uses
a computer networ! to spread itself, relying on security failures on the target
computer to access it. 0nli!e a computer virus, it does not need to attach
itself to an existing program. )orms almost always cause at least some harm
to the networ!, whereas viruses almost always corrupt or modify fles on a
targeted computer.
Trojans
A ro3an horse, often shortened to ro3an, is a type of malware designed to
provide unauthori,ed, remote access to a users computer. ro3an horses do
not have the ability to replicate themselves li!e viruses# however, they can
lead to viruses being installed on a machine since they allow the computer to
be controlled by the ro3an creator. ro3an horses compromise a users
computer thereby stealing various data such as credit card information, login
passwords for email accounts, installing more malware, installing !ey logger
and various other malicious activities. ro3ans are also capable of
launching Denial of Service (DoS) attac!s.
&n computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) or distributed
denial-of-service attack (DDoS attack) is an attempt to ma!e a machine
or networ! resource unavailable to its intended users.
4urpose and uses
A ro3an may give a hac!er remote access to a targeted computer system.
%perations that could be performed by a hac!er on a targeted computer
system may include-
0se of the machine as part of a botnet (e.g. to perform
automated spamming or to distribute (enial$of$service attac!s)
"rashing the computer
/lectronic money theft
(ata theft (e.g. retrieving passwords or credit card information)
&nstallation of software, including malware (virus)
(ownloading or uploading of fles on the user5s computer
Modifcation or deletion of fles
6eystro!e logging
)atching the user5s screen
7iewing the user5s webcam
"ontrolling the computer system remotely
8eformatting dis!
/ncrypting fles
(ata corruption
0sing infected computer as proxy for illegal activities and attac!s on
other computers.