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home > Virus and Anti
Virus
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Whats a
computer Virus
A computer virus is a program designed to spread itself by first
infecting program files or the system areas of hard disks and then making
copies of itself. Viruses usually operate without the knowledge of the computer
user.
How is it spread?
When you start a program
that's infected by a virus, the virus code will execute (run) and try and
infect other programs. This can infect the same computer or other computers
connected to it on a network. The newly infected programs will try to infect
more programs and computers. When you share a copy of an infected file with
other computer users, opening the file may also infect their computers; and
files from those computers may spread the infection to yet more computers.
What do viruses do to computers?
Viruses are software
programs, the actual effect of a virus depends on how it was programmed by the
person who wrote the virus. Some viruses are designed to overwrite boot sectors
and interfere with your computer's operation (boot viruses), others damage your
computers memory operation then try and spread themselves around by picking up
e-mail or network addresses off your computer (worm viruses). Still others will
wipe files from the hard drive and destroy system files (Trojan viruses) and
finally there are ones that infect document files, electronic spreadsheets and
databases of several popular software packages (Macro viruses). Viruses can't
do any damage to hardware: they won't melt down your CPU, burn out your hard
drive, cause your monitor to explode, etc. Warnings about viruses that will
physically destroy your computer are usually hoaxes, not legitimate virus
warnings.
What is Phishing?
Phishing attempts to
fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, password and
credit card details. Recent phishing attempts have targeted the customers of
banks and online payment services like eBay and PayPal. Phishing is typically
carried out using email or an instant message, and often directs users to give
details at a website, although phone contact has been used as well. The
techniques employed involve link manipulation and website forgery so be very
careful about clicking on links contained in email, even from known contacts.
More information on Phishing can be found at
Wikipedia
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