A Computer Virus Is a Computer Program That Can Copy Itself

A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself[1] and infect a computer. The term virus is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, adware, and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability. A true virus can only spread from one computer to another (in some form of executable code) when its host is taken to the target computer; for instance because a user sent it over a network or the Internet, or carried it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB drive. Viruses can increase their chances of spreading to other computers by infecting files on a network file system or a file system that is accessed by another computer.[2][3] The term computer virus is sometimes†¦show more content†¦Slow infectors, on the other hand, are designed to infect hosts infrequently. Some slow infectors, for instance, only infect files when they are copied. Slow infectors are designed to avoid detection by limiting their actions: they are less likely to slow down a computer noticeably and will, at most, infrequently trigger anti-virus software that detects suspicious behavior by programs. The slow infector approach, however, does not seem very successful. Stealth Some viruses try to trick antivirus software by intercepting its requests to the operating system. A virus can hide itself by intercepting the antivirus software’s request to read the file and passing the request to the virus, instead of the OS. The virus can then return an uninfected version of the file to the antivirus software, so that it seems that the file is clean. Modern antivirus software employs various techniques to counter stealth mechanisms of viruses. The only completely reliable method to avoid stealth is to boot from a medium that is known to be clean Spyware is a type of malware that is installed on computers and collects little bits information at a time about users without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user, and can be difficult to detect. Typically,Show MoreRelatedComputer Viruses Essay example758 Words   |  4 PagesA computer virus program is altering program and it replicated itself by coping itself into other programs stored in a computer. The word virus is also commonly used broadly to include computer viruses, worms, and Trojan horse programs. For example, so-called anti-virus software will remove all three classes of these malicious programs. The first virus was born in the very beginning of 1970’s or even in the end of 1960’s although nobody was calling it a virus back then. 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