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" A virus is a computer
program that is intentionally written to attach itself to other programs or
disk boot sectors and replicate whenever those programs are executed or those
infected disks are accessed."
| Viruses | Worms | Trojans | Spyware | Spam | Combatting |
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The most common blunder in internet security is people referring to a worm or a trojan as a virus. Though they are used together when talking about internet security they are not the same thing. A Computer virus attaches itself to a program or a file. By doing this it can spread itself computer to computer. Like a human virus, Computer viruses can vary in effects, some can cause minor damage and disruption whereas others cause can serious damage and major disruption to your computer system. Almost every virus attaches itself to a malicious program or executable file and can exist on your computer, but cannot cause any damage unless you open the malious program or file. It is worth noting that virus’s cannot spread without human action, e.g. opening up a malicious file or program. Also viruses cannot spread without people unknowingly sending the malicious program or file via email attachments or sharing infected files.
A worm is similar
to a virus and is considered a sub-class of a virus. Like a virus, worms spread
from computer to computer but unlike a virus a worm does not need human action
to travel. Worms take advantage of files or information transport features
on your system which allows it to travel unaided.
The biggest danger with a worm is its ability to replicate itself on your
system, so instead of your computer sending out a single worm, it could send
out hundreds or thousands of copies of itself, creating a huge devastating
effect to many other systems.The first computer
worm was created by a graduate student from Cornell University called Robert
Tappan Morris. According to Morris he released the worm onto the internet
in November 2 1988 to "gauge" the size of the internet. But the
worm had a design fault, Morris instructed the worm to copy itself but this
level of replication proved excessive and the worm spread rapidly, infecting
several thousand computers and bring down the internet.The Morris worm is
also known as "The Great Worm" due to its significance to the perception
and reliability of the internet's security.
A trojan horse is based on trickery as is the mythological trojan horse it is named after. The Trojan Horse, at first glance will appear to be useful software but will actually do damage once installed or run on your computer. Those who recieve a Trojan Horse are usually tricked into opening them because they appear to be receiving genuine software or files from a genuine and approved source. When a Trojan is activated on your computer, the results can vary. Some Trojans are designed to be more annoying than malicious, e.g. changing your desktop, adding active desktop icons or they can cause serious damage by deleting files and destroying information on your system. Trojans are also known to create a backdoor on your computer that gives malicious users access to your system, possibly allowing confidential or personal information to be compromised or your give hackers remote accsess to your system. Unlike viruses and worms, Trojans do not mutiply by infecting other files and they do not duplicate themselves in order to spread.
" Any software that covertly gathers user information through the user's Internet Connection without his or her knowledge, usually for Advertising purposes."
Unfortunately, some free software which contains adware do track your surfing
habits in order to serve ads related to you. When the adware becomes intrusive
like this it becomes spyware. Due to its invasive nature, spyware has really
given adware a bad name as many people do not know the differences between
the two, or use the the names correctly. Spyware is considered a malicious
program and is similar to a Trojan Horse in that users unwittingly install
the product when they install something else. A common way to become a victim
of spyware is to download certain peer-to-peer file swapping products that
are available today.
Spyware works like adware but is usually a separate program that is installed unknowingly when you install another freeware type program or application. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Spyware can also gather information about e-mail addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers. Because spyware exists as independent executable programs, they have the capability to monitor your keystrokes, scan files on the hard drive, snoop other applications, such as chat programs or word processors, install other spyware programs, read cookies, change the default home page on the Web browser, while consistently relaying this information back to the spyware author who will either use it for advertising and marketing purposes or sell the information to another party.Licensing agreements that accompany software downloads sometimes warn the user that a spyware program will be installed along with the requested software, but the licensing agreements are not always be read completely by users because the notice of a spyware installation is often couched in obtuse, hard-to-read legal disclaimers.
Adware is considered a legitmate alternative offered to consumers who do not wish to pay for software. Programs, games or utilities can be designed and distributed as freeware. Sometimes freeware blocks features and functions of the software until you pay to register it. Today we have a growing number of software developers who offer their goods as "sponsored" freeware until you pay to register. Generally most or all features of the freeware are enabled but you will be viewing sponsored advertisements while the software is being used. The advertisements usually run in a small section of the software userface but when you stop running the software, the ads should disappear. This allows consumers to try the software before they buy and you always have the option of disabling the ads by purchasing a registration key.This therefore puts pressure on people to give in and purchase the full program.
"There is some debate about the source of the term, but the generally accepted version is that it comes from the Monty Python song, "Spam spam spam spam, spam spam spam spam, lovely spam, wonderful spam…" Like the song, spam is an endless repetition of worthless text."
Spam is electronic junkmail or junk newsgroup postings. However, it is also defined as unrequested emails. Spam is usually email advertising for a product sent via mailing list or newsgroups. Firstly it wastes time and secondly it eats up a lot of network bandwidth. Due to this problem countless people and organisations have taken it upon themselves to "fight" spam and "spammers" with a variety of techniques. As we know (or should know) the internet is public which means anyone can create and upload webpages which means little can be done to prevent spam as well as junk email. However some online services and ISP's have introduced policies to prevent spammers affecting their subscribers. The term "spam" is believed to have come from a Monty Python song entiled "spam" (refering to the tinned luncheon meat) which was used by the computer group lab at the University of Southern California, who gave it the name because it was very similar to the tinned meat in the context that no one ever wanted it or asked for it. But in the same context some people like spam, which means a small minority of people actually find the "spam" useful and this is what the spammers hope, that someone will be interested in there product or message.
Preventive measures are the best way to protect your computer from virus infection. If you use some basic common sense and follow a few simple steps, your can make your computer immune to most of the virus threats that are likely to occur.
* Make sure your operating
system and firewall is up-to-date. This is essential if you are running Microsoft
Windows. The easiest way to do this is to enable Automatic Updates in Windows
System Properties. This way, when you connect to the internet, your computer
will automatically connect to Microsoft and download the latest patches and
service packs for your OS. You can also go to the Windows Update site here
* You should have anti-virus software installed on your system and make sure
you download updates frequently. Also make sure that it is set to scan files
and email as it is downloaded from the internet.
* Be suspicious of unfamiliar email. If you receive an email from someone
you don't know or the email has a strange attachment, do not open it. This
is how most virus's get on your computer. It is best to delete the message
right away, better to be safe than sorry.
