Computer Viruses

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Computer Viruses

A computer virus is an illegal and potentially damaging computer program designed to infect other
software by attaching itself to any software it contacts. In many cases, virus programs are designed to
damage computer systems maliciously by destroying or corrupting data. If the infected software is
transferred to or accessed by another computer system, the virus spreads to the other system. Viruses have
become a serious problem in recent years, and currently, thousands of known virus programs exist (Reed
85-102).
    Three types of viruses are boot sector virus, file virus, and Trojan horse virus. A boot sector virus
infects the boot program used to start the system. When the infected boot program executes, the virus is
loaded into the computers memory. Once a virus is in a memory, it can spread to any floppy disk inserted
into the computer. A file virus inserts virus code into program files. The virus then spreads to any program
that accesses the infected file. A Trojan horse virus (named after a 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 time bombs 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, such as an employee being terminated. A worm, which is simila...

Submitted by: digitalessays
Date Submitted: 10-15-07 10:36am
Category: Miscellaneous
Words: 446
Pages: 1.78