Tag Archives: computer viruses

Types of Computer Viruses

In computing terminology, a ‘malicious code’ is a term used for computer viruses and programs designed to cause damage to computers. Other types of destructive PC worms are known as Internet virus including the examples like Worms and Trojans.

Outlined below is the description of different kinds of computer viruses:

Program/File Infector

Falling under the category of parasitic viruses, a program or file infector attempts to infect the files with extension code like .exe, .com, .drv, .dil, .bin, .ovl, and .sys. It gets activate along with the execution of executable file containing virus. The virus then loads itself into memory and replicates itself to other executable files when these files are opened or run.

The File Infector virus can destroy the content contained in files and cause irreversible damage to them. Some file viruses have also operated as email worm and Trojan horse.

The best way to disinfect files infected by the file virus is to delete them and restore from back up.

Macro Computer Virus

A macro computer virus is a virus written in a language built into a software application such as a word processor. For example: Microsoft Office has the macro language built into its application. This is why most of its application programs are affected by macro computer virus.

Macro viruses are generally created using the macro recorder or Visual Basic for Applications. The applications that are the most prone to this antivirus are Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets, Power Point Presentation, and Access Database. The virus infects templates of these documents and therefore every file that the user opens gets affected. Some common macro computer viruses are Auto Exec, Auto New, Auto Open, Auto Close, and Auto Exit.

The auto macros can be disabled by using the command ‘DisableAutoMacros’ in any macro that is written. Another way to remove it is by holding down the shift key while opening a document.

Multi-Partite Virus

It behaves in the same way as other computer viruses do. As the name signifies, they are sometimes more than one type. These are hybrids and are known as multi-partite virus.

Polymorphic Viruses

It is a kind of virus which produces different but operational copies for itself. Its attack is considered to be extremely dangerous as virus detectors will not be able to detect all instances of virus attacks simultaneously. And this is one of the reasons why it is known to be strategically designed.

Stealth Viruses

A stealth virus uses different mechanisms to prevent recognition by antivirus software. It tries to escape detection either by redirecting the disk head to head to read another sector or modifying the file size shown in the Directory listing.

Classification of some viruses is not possible as they are the file type viruses which start behaving as computer worms with an activation code.

Types of Computer Viruses

In computing terminology, a ‘malicious code’ is a term used for computer viruses and programs designed to cause damage to computers. Other types of destructive PC worms are known as Internet virus including the examples like Worms and Trojans.

Outlined below is the description of different kinds of computer viruses:

Program/File Infector

Falling under the category of parasitic viruses, a program or file infector attempts to infect the files with extension code like .exe, .com, .drv, .dil, .bin, .ovl, and .sys. It gets activate along with the execution of executable file containing virus. The virus then loads itself into memory and replicates itself to other executable files when these files are opened or run.

The File Infector virus can destroy the content contained in files and cause irreversible damage to them. Some file viruses have also operated as email worm and Trojan horse.

The best way to disinfect files infected by the file virus is to delete them and restore from back up.

Macro Computer Virus

A macro computer virus is a virus written in a language built into a software application such as a word processor. For example: Microsoft Office has the macro language built into its application. This is why most of its application programs are affected by macro computer virus.

Macro viruses are generally created using the macro recorder or Visual Basic for Applications. The applications that are the most prone to this antivirus are Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets, Power Point Presentation, and Access Database. The virus infects templates of these documents and therefore every file that the user opens gets affected. Some common macro computer viruses are Auto Exec, Auto New, Auto Open, Auto Close, and Auto Exit.

The auto macros can be disabled by using the command ‘DisableAutoMacros’ in any macro that is written. Another way to remove it is by holding down the shift key while opening a document.

Multi-Partite Virus

It behaves in the same way as other computer viruses do. As the name signifies, they are sometimes more than one type. These are hybrids and are known as multi-partite virus.

Polymorphic Viruses

It is a kind of virus which produces different but operational copies for itself. Its attack is considered to be extremely dangerous as virus detectors will not be able to detect all instances of virus attacks simultaneously. And this is one of the reasons why it is known to be strategically designed.

Stealth Viruses

A stealth virus uses different mechanisms to prevent recognition by antivirus software. It tries to escape detection either by redirecting the disk head to head to read another sector or modifying the file size shown in the Directory listing.

Classification of some viruses is not possible as they are the file type viruses which start behaving as computer worms with an activation code.

Handling Computer Viruses

A computer virus is software that is capable of creating a lot of problems to your computer programs and files. It can even affect your hard disk as well. These viruses travel through the Internet from computer to computer. Some of them can even be used to extract information from your computer illegally with the intent to sell. With all your personal information, identity theft becomes easy.

Often times your computer will begin doing weird things and stop running like it usually does when it has acquired a virus. Some signs of this can be your computer is reacting slower, freezing up frequently, runs and then restarts itself many times, some programs are not running at all and the it does not recognize disks or disk drives in the computer. You will also see some strange programs that were not there in the computer before, which you did not install.

You should run an anti-virus program to see if you do have a virus and where it is located. Sometimes your computer shows signs of having a virus, but this may also be due to other hardware failures that your computer is having and it may not have anything to do with computer viruses.

Removing computer viruses is not an easy task. Even experts need the help of removal tools. It is therefore very important to have the latest anti-virus updates on your computer. These programs have been created to stop most of the viruses from getting through, before they enter your computer in the first place. Of course, once you have a virus, you will have to try and get rid of it without losing too much of your data in the process. This also applies to the memory on your hard drive.

Prevention is perhaps the best solution to computer viruses. There are a few things that you can do to make sure that you don’t get viruses in the first place. First, keep your firewall on at all times. This will help keep unwanted programs out. Secondly, keep your system completely up-to-date to be able to handle the latest viruses efficiently. Next, make sure you have a good anti-virus software and that it is not expired. Now make sure to use antispyware software to protect your computer as well. Make sure you have all the information on these products and tools to keep your computer healthy at all times.