What could be better than receiving an email with the subject line, ”I love you?”’ Well, if you were the recipient of such an email in the early 2000s, you might not have been so happy. That’s because cybercriminals used the phrase to trick computer users into opening what turned out to be a computer virus.
A computer virus is a program which can harm our device and files and infect them for no further use. When a virus program is executed, it replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and instead enters its own coding. This code infects a file or program and if it spreads massively, it may ultimately result in crashing of the device.
Across the world, Computer viruses are a great issue of concern as they can cause billions of dollars’ worth harm to the economy each year.
A direct action virus is one of the two main types of file infector viruses (the other being a resident virus). The virus is considered “non-resident”; it doesn’t install itself or remain hidden in your computer’s memory.
Non-resident virus execute code every time a file is opened.
Non-resident viruses can be thought of as consisting of a finder module and a replication module. The finder module is responsible for finding new files to infect. For each new executable file the finder module encounters, it calls the replication module to infect that file.
This type of virus doesn’t stay in the computer system for a longer period of time. It normally waits for the particular time for any event action as programmed in it and then goes live with replicating itself in the computer system. This virus generally infects the files and folders includes in the file AUTOEXEC.BAT. This file is responsible for performing operations during boot time.
It works by attaching itself to a particular type of file (typically EXE or COM files). When someone executes the file, it springs into life, looking for other similar files in the directory for it to spread to.
On a positive note, the virus does not typically delete files nor hinder your system’s performance. Aside from some files becoming inaccessible, it has a minimal impact on a user and can be easily removed with an anti-virus program.
Examples– CMJ
Effect Of Computer Virus
Since the computer virus only hits the programming of the device, it is not visible. But there are certain indications which can help you analyse that a device is virus-hit. Given below are such signs which may help you identify computer viruses:
- Speed of the System – In case a virus is completely executed into your device, the time taken to open applications may become longer and the entire system processing may start working slowly
- Pop-up Windows – One may start getting too many pop up windows on their screen which may be virus affected and harm the device even more
- Self Execution of Programs – Files or applications may start opening in the background of the system by themselves and you may not even know about them
- Log out from Accounts – In case of a virus attack, the probability of accounts getting hacked increase and password protected sites may also get hacked and you might get logged out from all of them
- Crashing of the Device – In most cases, if the virus spreads in maximum files and programs, there are chances that the entire device may crash and stop working
Safety From Computer Virus
The most suitable way of making your computer virus free is by installing an Anti-virus software. Such software help in removing the viruses from the device and can be installed in a computer via two means:
- Online download
- Buying an Anti-virus software and installing it