1. Viruses : Notorious Pests James Barnes II Worms and Viruses Worms and Viruses | Solutions | Worms and Viruses | Myth | Prevention | Final WordSolutions Worms and Viruses Myth Prevention Final Word Home

2. Unpleasant terms that have become known in the computer industry to describe some of the insidious ways in which computer systems can be invaded. Worm - a program that transfers itself from computer to computer over a network and plants itself as a separate file on the target computer’s disks. Rare. Virus – a set of illicit instructions embedded in a file that passes itself on to other files with which it comes into contact. Digital vandalism. Back

3. A virus can be dealt with by the means of a vaccine, or antivirus; a computer program that stops the spread of a virus and often eradicates it. - However, a retrovirus has the ability to fight back and may even delete or disable antivirus software. Back

4. Typical Viruses and Worms NameConsequences SirCam Distributed as an e-mail attachment, infected computers may have files deleted, performance may be degraded, and random files may be sent from the hard drive to anyone in the address book. Form Causes a clicking noise in the computer’s keyboard on the 18 th day of the month; it may corrupt data on diskettes. MDMA Affects Microsoft Word files; can delete files. Michelangelo Destroys all data on the hard disk on March 6, Michelangelo’s birthday. Jerusalem Deletes any program executed on Friday the 13 th. Back

5. You cannot get a virus by simply being online, by surfing the Internet, or even from your own local area network. Only by downloading a program and executing it, can you get a virus. Back

6. Virus Prevention Antivirus software is the most powerful weapon against viruses. Antivirus software detects viruses, but the most common technique is to search for virus signatures. Each virus can be identified by a unique string of bits called its signature. When a new virus is detected. Experts immediately examine it to determine the signature. Then they add this signature to a file of known viruses. Companies such as Symantec and McAfee that publish antivirus software maintain Web sites that contain the latest signature files. It is important that you visit your antivirus publisher’s site frequently to download these signature files. Back

7. Final Word of Warning The most common way of obtaining a virus is through e-mail attachments. Attached documents created by programs may contain macro viruses. After these files infect your system, they can use your e- mail program to send themselves to everyone in your address book. Most antivirus software scans incoming mail, but you should still be wary of opening any unexpected attachments, no matter what. Back