Computer Virus Information You Need To Know
If you still think that your computer or e-business is unaffected from viruses, think again! With industry experts claiming more than 5000 new viruses uncovered each year, it is not a question of IF you will suffer a virus attack, but instead WHEN! At this time dependable computer internet security is vital for guarding both you and your online business. In this commentary we will explore why you should be concerned about computer viruses and how these nasty “critters” work their destruction on your personalcomputer.
It is amazing number of individuals; both informal Internet “surfers” and online marketers opt to pay no attention to computer internet security. Maybe it is just due to unawareness as to how extensive and hazardous computer viruses are or that they are plainly “too cheap” to invest in good quality internet security products. Then again it could be a case of their naive belief that “it can never happen to me”. Whatever the cause, with some computer industry reports stating nearly 5,000 “new” computer viruses being discovered each year, whether you are a informal Internet surfer or a determined online business person, you can’t afford not to take computer virus threats very seriously!
Just envision logging into your computer one fine afternoon to verify your bank account or PayPal account only to find all your funds are gone! Your hard earned money, either from your traditional job or web business (perhaps both) have been swiped. Yes, there are viruses out there that are capable of gathering sensitive information (passwords, credit card information, etc.) from your computer devoid of your knowledge and transferring it back to the crooks that made the virus programs. Good-bye funds! So it is well worth your time to invest in the finest internet security software that you can afford.
So what is a computer virus anyhow? In basic terms, a computer virus is a program that has the power to spread throughout your computer and/or network by attaching itself to your program files or host files. After the computer virus has duplicated itself throughout your computer system, based on the sort of virus, it begins to interfere with the usual operation of your computer and /or network in a assortment of ways which we will talk about in a later article.
Sorry to say computer viruses come in lots of distinctive forms, so there is no one common cure that will prevent and wipe out all the scores of viruses out there. Some of the more common viruses are:
A) Boot sector viruses that concentrate on infecting the boot sector of a hard drive as well as the “master boot record”. Merely starting or “booting” your computer is enough to activate this nasty critter if your computer is infected.
B) File infector viruses like to attack your application programs by binding themselves to the code of the host file. This allows them to proliferate from one computer to another over a network once the host application is used by the computer user (you).
C) Macro viruses are actually tiny programs on their own which can creep into an application program and then begin to swap standard programming code to trigger baffling and potentially destructive actions, which may result in data loss and more.
Other types of computer viruses that are becoming more widespread and that you need to be knowledgeable of consist of:
1. stealth viruses which have the capability to disappear from all but the top internet security programs,
2. time bomb viruses that are developed expressly to become operational on a specific date or time determined by their originator,
3. polymorphic viruses have the built in skill to actually change their code to con basic anivirus scanning software until they are prepared to launch an attack,
4. multipartite viruses are a blend (or hybrid) of two or more viruses such as a boot sector virus and a file infector virus,
5. logic bombs are developed to strike when a precise event, prearranged by their creator, happens. Until that time, they act like a time bomb virus, lying in wait.
One final piece of information just in case you even now are unconvinced of the seriousness and threats to your computer internet security posed by computer viruses. Depending on your information resources, estimates of new computer viruses identified each month vary from as low as 100 upwards to over 500! Undoubtedly it is no longer a problem of “if I do catch a computer virus infection”, but rather, “when I contract a computer virus infection”.
