History of Computer Viruses:

 

Anyone that owns a computer dreads the words "Computer Virus." A computer virus is a damaging program that gets into your system, replicates itself and continues to do damage. There are many ways that a computer virus can get into your system and there are just as many ways that a computer virus can do its damage.  The First Computer Viruses: The first known computer virus was written in 1982 by a man named Rich Skrenta. This virus was terme dElk Cloner, and was the first computer virus to show up outside of the computer it was created in. Elk Cloner worked by attaching itself to the Apple DOS operating system and was spread to other computers by means of a floppy disk.  The next well known computer virus was a PC virus called Brain. This virus was a boot sector virus that was created by two brothers Basit and Amjad Farooq Alvi in 1986. Basit and Amjad claim to have not created this virus to intentionally infect other operating systems, but instead claim that they had created the virus and attached it to software they had written in order to prevent pirated copies of their work from being created.  How Viruses Began to Spread: Before the Internet became so widely accessible, computer viruses were generally spread through means of hardware, like floppy disks or other removable media. Though it's hard to imagine now, people used to exchange a lot of information on floppy disks regularly, since most people did not have access to the Internet to share files. If a floppy disk was infected, it could easily spread around pretty quickly. Many of these viruses spread by attaching themselves to information and programs that were stored on these floppy disks. Other viruses were already on the disks and installed themselves onto the operating system when the disk was booted up.  As the Internet became more widely used and technology became more advanced, computer viruses continued to grow and become more common. Most computer virus threats these days come in the form of information transferred on the Internet, such as downloadable files and emails. There are even viruses that can be spread through instant messaging programs.  How to Stop Viruses: Fortunately, as computer virus technology continues to grow, so does the technology for anti-virus systems. With proper anti-virus software in place, such as Norton Antivirus, NOD32 Antivirus, orKaspersky Antivirus, most people never have to deal with the damage that a computer virus can cause. Computer viruses can be extremely annoying and damaging to those they infect, and history has shown us they can cause a great deal of damage very quickly.

What are Viruses, Trojans, Worms & Spyware:

 

T here are many different types of computer viruses circulating in the cyber world, including regular Computer Viruses, Worms, Trojans, and Spyware. Each is different in how they work, but they all share one thing in common; the ability to do a great deal of damage to your computer system.  Computer Viruses: Computer Viruses have been around since the early 1980's. A computer virus is a program that gets into a computer system by means of hardware or software without the knowledge of the computer user, and then attaches itself to a program file. The virus then starts to replicate itself and do the damage it has been programmed to do. There are many different kinds of computer viruses out there and each has a different way that they work. They can be quite damaging to a computer system, so it is important that you have a good anti virus program in place to protect your computer. Trojan Horses: A Trojan is not a computer virus in the sense that it doesn't get into your computer and self-replicate. The Trojan derives its name from the ancient Greek story of the Trojan Horse, where a group of warriors invades a city by hiding within a giant wooden horse. The residents of the city thought the horse to be a gift, never knowing what was hidden inside, so they rolled the horse in bringing their enemy within the city walls with it. The Greek Trojan horse appeared to be something that it was not, just as the computer Trojan appears to be something that it is not. A computer Trojan is software that appears to function in a certain way (such as a program that you may have downloaded to remove viruses or spyware), when in reality it performs another action, unknown to the user. A Trojan is not always harmful and damaging to your computer, but it can open a Backdoor for hackers to get into your computer and cause damage or retrieve information. A good firewall program is the most effective means to stop a Trojan Horse (also regular computer updates and an antivirus program help prevent Trojan Horses).  Computer Worms: Computer Worms are like a virus in the fact that they do self-replicate themselves within your computer system. However, a computer worm does not have to attach itself to a program in your system like a computer virus does in order to function. Also, unlike a computer virus that generally corrupts and modifies files on your computer to cause damage, a computer worm generally localizes its damage to the computer network by causing increased bandwidth. However, computer worms may have a "payload" that can delete files, encrypt files or email files on the host computer. A very common payload for a worm is to install a backdoor in the infected computer to allow the creation of a "zombie" computer under control of the worm author. Computer worms can often spread via email such as the SoBig and MyDoom worms did (from 2003 and 2004 respectively).  Spyware: Spyware is a newer type of program that damages your computer system. Spyware is also not a computer virus in the traditional sense, but it is harmful. Spyware works by getting into your computer system for the purpose of taking partial control over your use, or collecting personal information without your knowledge. Spyware often ends up on your computer after downloading & installing free software - be very careful what software you download, and which websites you download from!  While different in the functions they perform, Viruses, Trojans, Worms and Spyware are all damaging to your computer. It is of the utmost importance that you make sure you have proper computer protection software in place that will protect you from these things so they cannot get into your computer and cause damage.