Computer+Viruses

include component="comments" page="Computer Viruses" limit="10" **__Computer Viruses __**
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=**Definition of Computer Viruses** = (a software program capable of reproducing itself usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer)

=**History of Computer Viruses **= The first virus was made in 1971 which was called a "creeper virus" then the message "I'm the creeper, catch me if you can!" was displayed. In June 1988 the first virus that did damage was made and they were called "Cyber AIDS and festering hate apple pro Dos" when these got into you computer they found other files and infected them. when it couldn't find any more files it destroyed all of them. In 1999 The Happy 99 worm first appeared. It invisibly attaches itself to emails, displays fireworks to hide the changes being made, and wishes the user a happy new year.It modifies system files related to Outlook Express and internet Explorer ie. on Windows 95 and Windows 98.

=**Information** = Strange as it may sound, the computer virus is something of an Information Age marvel. On one hand, viruses show us how vulnerable we are a properly engineered virus can have a devastating effect, disrupting productivity and doing billions of dollars in damages. On the other hand, they show us how sophisticated and interconnected human beings have become. For example, experts estimate that the My Dorm Worm infected approximately a quarter-million computers in a single day in January 2004. Back in March 1999, the Melissa Virus was so powerful that it forced Microsoft and a number of other very large companies to completely turn off their e-mail systems until the virus could be contained. The ILOVEYOU Virusin 2000 had a similarly devastating effect. In January 2007, a worm called Storm appeared by October, experts believed up to 50 million computers were infected. That's pretty impressive when you consider that many viruses are incredibly simple.

=**More about Viruses **= A virus is a piece of program code that, like a biological virus, makes copies of itself and spreads by attaching itself to a host, often damaging the host in the process. The host is another computer program, often a computer operating system, which then infects the applications that are transferred to other computers.

=**How Computer Viruses work **= A worm has the ability to copy itself from one computer to another. It is a simple computer program, which moves around through computer networks. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Trojans were used to get into the computer with a program or a game, and when users ran the program or game on their computer, the Trojan would usually erase the entire disk in the system. Trojans did not damage many computers because they were discovered quickly. Back then, programs were small and the entire operating system could fit into a floppy disk or two. It was because of this that floppy disks played a tremendous role in giving rise to viruses.Computer viruses have always been intriguing, for they wreak utter chaos in one's system, without making their presence felt initially. However, not all viruses have managed to steal the limelight. One virus, which was notorious for its destruction, was the My doom worm. This virus infected approximately a quarter-million computers in one day. Then there was the Melissa virus, which was so powerful that it forced Microsoft and several other companies to completely turn off their email systems until the virus could be cleaned. The "I Love You" virus had a similar effect on email systems.



=**<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">How viruses can be categorised **=
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The basic virus: a small piece of software that rides on real programs. A virus might attach itself to a program, such as a spreadsheet program. So, whenever that program runs, the virus will run along with it and will then reproduce, by attaching itself to other programs.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Email viruses: they move around in email messages, replicating by automatically mailing themselves to dozens of people at one time. Email viruses usually come with a message that says you have won thousands of dollars, or provides so-called never-before-seen footage of celebrities, etc.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Worms: small pieces of software that use computer networks and security loop holes to replicate themselves. A worm scans the network for another machine that has the same security loop hole, copying itself to the new machine using the security loop hole. From here it starts to replicate.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Trojans: a very simple computer program, Trojans are usually games. When you run the game it erases your hard disk as you play the game. Trojan horses do not replicate themselves automatically.

= = =**<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Different types of viruses **=
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Memory Resident Virus
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Direct Action Viruses
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Overwrite Viruses
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Boot Sector Virus
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Macro Virus
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Directory Virus
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Polymorphic Virus
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Companion Viruses
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">FAT Virus
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Multipartite Virus
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Web Scripting Virus
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Worms
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Trojans
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Logic Bombs

=Are computer viruses illegal?= In most countries it is not illegal to make a virus but if you make a virus that spreads itself and you use it then you are breaking the law. But even if they catch the person that made the virus properly don't have anywhere near the amount of money they need to re-pay the amount of damage they did because they can do billions of pounds of damage. So it is up to us to protect ourself's from the increasing threat of viruses



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