Definition of Computer Virus

 


A computer virus is a type of computer program that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code. When this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" with a computer virus.

Computer viruses cause billions of dollars' worth of economic damage each year,

In 1989 The ADAPSO Software Industry Division published Dealing With Electronic Vandalism, in which they followed the risk of data loss by "the added risk of losing customer confidence."

In response, free, open-source antivirus tools have been developed, and an industry of antivirus software has cropped up, selling or freely distributing virus protection to users of various operating systems.




Types of PC Virus

Although there are thousands of infectious programs that can affect your PC, these are categorized on the basis of their infection targets.

BOOT SECTOR VIRUS

Boot Sector Virus infects the Master Boot Record (MBR) of hard disks. Some virus also infects the boot sector of hard drives. It spreads via external sources, for example, an infected floppy disk or USB drive.

MACRO VIRUS

A macro virus usually targets Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook, and similar applications. The piece of the virus is embedded in documents or emails. And you accidentally opens the file, the virus gets activated and can spread to other files and folders.

EMAIL VIRUS

Email Virus uses email medium to spread and infect PCs. These types of malware come hidden in email attachments and execute as soon as you download or open the attachment.

How do Computer Viruses Spread?

A computer virus may spread if any external virus infected hard drive is inserted into your PC. These removable devices can be a pen drive, an external hard disk or a floppy drive.  Apart from external hard drives, it spreads via email attachments, which can easily carry malware. Your computer can also get infected if you download software, movies, songs, etc. from untrusted websites.

Symptoms of Computer Virus Infection

You can easily identify the symptoms of computer virus infection. One major indication is that your PC getting extremely slow. Another symptom can be your existing firewall protection getting disabled. You will also experience frequent crashes of applications running on your PC.  Other alerts can be hard drive malfunction, error messages & pop-ups.

How to Prevent Viruses?

In order to prevent viruses from infecting your computer, you must follow certain best practices such as:

  • Do not insert removable devices/USB devices without scanning using a virus scanner
  • Abstain from downloading software from untrusted websites
  • Don’t open email attachments without verifying the sender id, content, and purpose
  • Use a premium antivirus software rather than free software as those may not be capable of providing 100% protection.

How to Remove a Virus?

In order to eliminate the possibility of infection on your device, you need to first delete all temporary files to speed up the virus scan process. Once you have deleted the temp files, scan your PC using an  antivirus software. You can use REVE Antivirus, which scans computer threats using the turbo scan technology. This results in quick virus detection and removal.  After the removal of malicious code or infectious files from your computer, always keep your antivirus software updated, so that any kind of latest threat can be detected.

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