Things You Must Know About Computer Viruses

It is important for every internet user to know more and more about computer viruses as the number, intensity and frequency of virus attacks are increasing at a rapid pace. It becomes more important because despite having the available information about ways to prevent computer viruses, users often become victim of these online threats.

 So lets try to know and understand computer viruses thoroughly.

 What is a computer virus?

 A computer virus is nothing but a computer program which is designed to replicate and spread itself from one PC to other. However, most people today mistakenly use the term virus to refer every malicious object available online including all types of malware and even adware and spyware. Referring adware and spyware as virus is not appropriate as these two doesn't have the capability to reproduce or replicate themselves. In fact virus is not a universal term to refer every bad thing happening to a PC connected to the internet. To be precise, we should call virus to only those computer programs that can spread or replicate themselves once they are run or executed successfully.

 Malware is a broader category which includes:

 Computer virusesTrojan horsesComputer wormsRootkits,SpywareMalicious adwareOther malicious and unwanted programs.

 Sometimes, the word virus is confused with worms and Trojan horses which is technically inappropriate. A worm typically exploits the security vulnerabilities in your PC in order to replicate itself and reach on to other PCs, whereas Trojan horse are those malicious programs which although look harmless or genuine but in fact carries malicious codes to harm your PC.

 Worms and Trojan horses are also like viruses as they can make significant harm to the data and performance of your PC. There are certain malware which can be easily tracked as they provide overt symptoms, but at the same time another group of malware exist secretly on the system without letting users know about their activities.

 Classification of computer viruses

 Below mentioned are the different types of computer viruses:

 (a) File or program viruses

 Viruses often exist in form of programs with malicious codes. They load themselves along with these programs in the memory of the computer and infect the system. There are various program files with extensions such as .EXE, .COM, .BIN, .DRV and .SYS and others which get infected from these programs. The viruses infect files with these extensions and then replicate them to destroy other programs which are in use at that time.

 (b) Boot Sector viruses (Master Boot Record)

 Boot Sector Viruses are another type of malware which can be easily programmed and deployed to infect vital PC components including master boot record, hard disk or floppy drive.

 (c) Multipartite Virus

 Multipartite viruses are the hybrid viruses which carry features of both boot as well as file viruses. They are created to make more harm to the data and performance of the PC by having the elements of both types of viruses. Multipartite malware are more dangerous because they can infect both files as well as boot sector of your system.

 The above discussed information about computer viruses plays an important role in protecting your PC because they help you know and understand the types and nature of viruses. The ideal and reliable way of protecting your PC is to go for effective antivirus program equipped with all kinds of security components such as automatic scanning, two-way firewall, antimalware, browser exploits protection etc.