COMPUTER VIRUS AND OTHER SECURITY THREATS
Computer Study Notes for Banking / IBPS EXAMS - Chapter 5 ( COMPUTER VIRUS )
Computer Virus
A computer virus is a malware program which when executed, replicates itself into computer programs, data files, or the boot sector of the hard drive. The affected areas by a virus are said to be “infected”.A Virus harms the computer by using hard disk space or CPU time. Viruses also access the private information of the user, corrupts data, spamming their contacts, or logging their keystrokes. Not all viruses attempt to hide themselves. In simple words, viruses are self-replicating computer programs which install themselves without the user’s knowledge.
Types of Virus
- Macro Virus– Macro virus harms the documents which use macros such as word processing and excel spreadsheet documents. A macro virus is written in macro language.
- Companion Virus– A virus that creates a new file with same existing filename.
- Virus hoax– A computer virus hoax is a message, can be a false e-mail warning the recipients to forward it to everyone they know.
- Computer prank– It is a prank related to either the software or the hardware of computers.
- WORM– A computer worm is a computer program that replicates itself in order to spread to other computers. It mostly uses a computer network to spread itself. Unlike a computer virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program.
- Trojan horse– A Trojan horse is a generally non-self-replicating type of code which when executed, causes loss or theft of data, and possible system harm.
Some of the famous computer virus
- 1. Creeper-1971
- 2. Elk cloner-1982
- 3. The Morris Internet worm-1988
- 4. Melissa-1990
- 5. I Love You-2000
- 6. Code red-2001
- 7. Nimade-2001
- 8. SQL slammer-2003
- 9. Blaster-2003
- 10. Sasser-2004
Anti-Virus Software
Antivirus software is a computer software used to prevent, detect and remove malicious software from computer. It is also known as Antivirus and anti-malware.Antivirus software detects and removes computer viruses from the system. Antivirus software also provides protection from other computer threats as there is rapid increase of other kinds of malwares.Now days, an antivirus protects the computer from malicious Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), browser hijackers, ransomware, keyloggers, backdoors, rootkits, trojan horses, worms, malicious LSPs, dialers, fraudtools, adware, and spyware.
Antivirus software uses two techniques to accomplish its task-
- Scanning files to find known viruses matching definitions.
- Identifying any doubtful behaviour from any computer program that might infect the computer.
Other Security Threats-
- Phishing– Phishing is an attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
- Spam– Spamming is sending unsolicited messages, especially advertising, as well as sending bulk messages on the same site or through an e-mail.
- Malware– Malware disrupts computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems without the user’s knowledge.
- Adware-It is a software package which automatically starts advertisement.
- Spyware– Spyware is software that gathers information about a person or organization without their knowledge and may send such information to another entity without the user’s knowledge.
- Firewall– A firewall is a network security system which controls the incoming and outgoing network traffic based on a set of rules. A firewall establishes an obstacle between a trusted, secure internal network and another network. Firewalls exist both as a software solution and as a hardware appliance.
