The computer Virus is considered
as malicious program that creates copies of itself in the computer when
infected. Most often, a virus operates in a computer by attaching itself to
other program, file, and partition table or boot sector of the hard disk. The
full form of VIRUS is Vital Information Resource Under Siege. When virus
infected programs or files are loaded into memory, the virus program is
executed and infected to other files in the system. Viruses normally infected
the computer when virus infected files are downloaded from a network (such as
e-mail attachment), or software containing virus, or, floppy disks infected
with viruses are installed in the system. The effects caused by a virus cannot
be predicted. Some may just display annoying messages on the screen or copy
themselves to many places, while others may delete files and data in the hard
disk or slow down the system by eating the processor time and memory. Antivirus
software prevents virus infected programs from running and removes them from
the system, but they must be updated periodically as new viruses are appearing
regularly. Worm is a kind of virus that when infected in the system creates
duplicates of itself in many parts. Worms utilize the background services of
the operating system which are invisible to the user to spread itself. This
uncontrolled replication gradually slows down the entire operations of the
system. Worms, when infected in a computer connected to a network, utilizes the
network connection to spread to other computers in the network. A computer
virus has four phases of action, namely dormancy, propagation, triggering and
action. Computer viruses are a serious security problem which has the potential
to worsen in the future. As the networking in growing globally, the risks of
damage by viruses are also raising. With appropriate control and counter
measures, the problem of computer viruses can be effectively managed. No one is
saying that it is easy, but we really have no other choice.
Comments
Post a Comment