Computer Viruses

A ready reckoner virus is an illegal and potentially damaging information processing system platform designed to infect other electronic computer software by attaching itself to whatever(prenominal) software it contacts. In many cases, virus platforms are designed to harm computer systems maliciously by destroying or corrupting data. If the septic software is transferred to or accessed by another computer system, the virus spreads to the other system. viruses flip become a serious problem in recent years, and currently, thousands of cognise virus programs exist (Reed 85-102).Three types of viruses are a gripe sector viruses, turn on cabinet virus, and Trojan horse virus. A boot sector virus infects the boot program used to start the system. When the infect boot program executes, the virus is loaded into the computers memory. Once a virus is in memory, it can spread to any floppy disk inserted into the computer. A file virus inserts virus code into program files. Th e virus then spreads to any program that accesses the infected file. A Trojan horse virus (named later the Greek myth) hides within or is designed to look like a legitimate program.Some viruses interrupt processing by freezing a computer system temporarily and then displaying sounds or messages. Other viruses contain magazine breaks or logic bombs. A time bomb is a program that performs an activity on a particular date. A logic bomb is a program that performs an activity when a certain action occurs, much(prenominal) as an employee being terminated. A worm, which is similar to a virus, copies itself repeatedly until no memory or disk space remains. To detect computer viruses, antivirus programs confuse been developed.Besides the detecting of the viruses, antivirus programs also have utilities to remove or repair infected programs or files. Some damaged files cannot be repaired and must be replaced with sportsmanlike backup files. The table below outlines some techniques used to protect computer systems. Table Techniques for Virus Protection and System Backup Using Virus Protection Software Backing Up Your System Install virus protection software on every computer system.Develop a unvarying plan for copying and storing important data and program files. Before use, exhaust every floppy disk with a virus scan program to check for viruses. Implement a backup plan and adhere to its guidelines. catch out all programs downloaded from the Internet or bulletin boards for viruses. Keep backup copies of files in fireproof safes or vaults or off-site If your system becomes virus infected and you have questions, contact the National Computer Security Association (NCSA) for low-cost assistance (Elmhurst, 6 Nov. 1998).