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Black River High School
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A virus is a program that reproduces its own code by attaching itself to other executable files in such a way that the virus code is executed when the infected executable file is executed.
Viruses reproduce without any permission or knowledge. They have two phases: An infection phase where they reproduce widely throughout the computer and an attacking phase where they do whatever damage they are programmed to do.
They are set off by a trigger. A trigger is something that you might open or click on to activate the virus.
The number of viruses there are in the world today is so large that it can not be counted. The ones that have been found and can be counted for are the big ones.
There are roughly 50,000 viruses out there that we know of and many wild ones that we don't know about.
Viruses are usually written by mistake but people with a malicious intention, may also write them for bad purposes.
Infection Phase: Normally, a trigger starts the infection. A trigger could be anything from opening a file, startind a program or starting the computer up. When the virus is executed, it starts to spread throughout the computer. It wants to spread as far as possible before anyone could detect it.
Attack Phase: After the virus is done infected it starts to attack whatever it is programmed to. The attack phase also has a trigger. It could be anything though.
Attacking could be anywhere from deleting files to playing music to non-stop restarting your computer.
System Sector Virus- Attacks mainly DOS and Master Boot records.
File Virus- They can infect any file they are programmed to and files not commonly found.
Macro Virus- With the macro language it is possible for email attachments to carry a virus with them. Sometimes they require another program to open it up.
Cluster Virus- This virus makes it so when you open up the progam, it runs the virus first.
Companion Virus- This virus infects .EXE files by installing a same-name, but as a .COM file.
Batch File Virus- These viruses are used to transmit binary executable code.
Source Code Virus- The source code on your system can be infected by adding Trojan code to it.
Visual Basic Worms- These are used for doing bad things in the intentional way in the role of a worm.
-Scan your computer for any viruses on a daily basis. Update virus definitions.
Sometimes that doesn't work.
-Always have a backup strategy.
-Most virus writers put on an attachment to an email or most of the time put it in a music or movie file.
-Just remember to check often!
-Anytime you recieve an email that seems suspicious, be safe and delete it.