• A computer virus is a type of malicious

software that, when executed, replicates itself

by modifying other computer programs and
inserting its own code.
 MAIN VIRUS PARTS

† Trigger (logic bomb)

is the compiled version that could be
activated any time.

† Payload
is the actual body or data that perform
the actual malicious purpose of the
virus.
 LIFE CYCLE
‡ Dormant phase
The virus program has managed to
access the target user's computer or
software, but during this stage, the virus
does not take any action. Not all viruses
have this stage.
‡ Triggering phase
A dormant virus moves into this phase
when it is activated, and will now
perform the function for which it was
intended.
‡ Propagation phase
The virus starts multiplying and
replicating itself. The virus places a copy
of itself into other programs or into
certain system areas on the disk.
‡ Execution phase This is the actual
work of the virus, where the
"payload" will be released. It can
be destructive or relatively
harmless such as popping up
humorous or political messages on
screen.
 SOME COMPUTER VIRUSES
◊ ILOVEYOU- The virus was created by two Filipino programers. What it did was get people to
click on the attachment, in this case, a love confession. Once clicked, it will send itself to everyone in
the user’s mailing list and proceed to overwrite files with itself, making the computer unbootable.

◊ MELISSA- Named after an exotic dancer from Florida, it was created in 1999. It started as an
infected Word document claiming to be a list of passwords for pornographic sites. The virus will mail
itself to the top 50 people in the user’s email address book and this caused an increase of email traffic,
disrupting the email services of governments and corporations.

◊ STUXNET- Believed to have been created by the Israeli Defence Force together with the American
Government, Stuxnet is an example of a virus created for the purpose of cyberwarfare, as it was
intended to disrupt the nuclear efforts of the Iranians.
 COUNTERMEASURES: ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
A specific component of anti-virus and anti-malware software, hooks deep into the operating
system's core or kernel and functions in a manner similar to how certain malware itself would
attempt to operate. Any time the operating system accesses a file, the on-access scanner checks if
the file is a 'legitimate' file or not. If the file is identified as malware by the scanner, the access
operation will be stopped, the file will be dealt with by the scanner in a pre-defined way and the
user will be notified.