What is meant by computer virus?

A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself[1] and spread from one computer to another.
Like a biological virus, a computer virus is something you don't want to get. Computer viruses are small programs or scripts that can negatively affect the health of your computer. These malicious little programs can create files, move files, erase files, consume your computer's memory, and cause your computer not to function correctly. Some viruses can duplicate themselves, attach themselves to programs, and travel across networks. In fact opening an infected e-mail attachment is the most common way to get a virus. Viruses normally can be classified into following broad catagories.

File Viruses or Parasitic Viruses:

File viruses are pieces of code that attach themselves to executable files, driver files or compressed files, and they are triggered when the host program is executed. Once the file virus or parasitic virus is activated, it may spread by attaching to new programs in the system, and also perform out the wicked actions it was programmed for. A large number of file/parasitic viruses spread by loading themselves in the system memory, and they start searching for additional programs located on the drive. If it locates one, it transforms the programs code so that it encloses the virus code. Then it activates the viruss code next time it runs. It keeps doing this yet again until it crawls all over the system, and probably to additional systems that share the infected program. Besides spreading themselves, these viruses also hold various types of destructive elements that can be activated instantly or by a specific trigger. The triggers could possibly be specific dates, or the number of times the virus has been replicated, or anything equally small.

Examples of file/parasitic viruses are Randex, Meve and MrKlunky.

Boot Sector Viruses:

A boot sector virus infects the boot sector of a hard drive, which is a very critical component for the booting process. The boot sector is where all the information concerning the drive is stored, along with a program that makes it possible for the operating system to boot up. By introducing the virus code into the boot sector, the virus ensures that it loads into the system memory at each boot cycle. A boot virus does not infect files; instead, it infects the drive on which they are saved. Possibly this is the reason for their collapse. In earlier days, when the programs were carried around in floppy disks, the virus used to spread like a wild fire. However, with the upcoming of CD drives and CD ROMs, it became impossible for the boot sector virus to infect pre-written information on a CD, which in due course stopped such viruses from spreading and infecting. Although the boot sector viruses still survive in the computer world, they are very rare compared to the new eras malicious software. An additional cause why boot sector viruses are not so common is that the

new age operating systems guard the boot sector, which makes it hard for the virus to infect it.

Examples of boot sector viruses are Polyboot.B and AntiEXE.

Multipartite Viruses:Multipartite viruses are a mixture of boot sector viruses

and file viruses. These viruses enter the system through infected media and dwell in the system memory. They then travel onto the boot sector of the hard drive. From there, the multipartite virus infects the executable files on the hard drive and spreads throughout the system. There arent many multipartite viruses present these days, but in their era, they were responsible for a number of vital troubles due to their ability to combine different infection practices.

A significant example of a multipartite virus is Ywinz.

Macro Viruses:

Macro viruses infect files that are formed using certain applications or programs that include macros. Such applications comprises of Microsoft Office documents such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Access databases and other related application files such as Corel Draw, AmiPro, etc. As macro viruses are programmed in the language of the application and not in that of the operating system, they are recognized to be platform-independent, i.e. they can spread across operating systems such as Windows, Macintosh or any other systems, as long as they are running the necessary application. With the ever rising abilities of macro languages in applications, and the risk of hazardous infection spreading over the networks, this macro virus has become a critical threat. The earliest macro virus was programmed for Microsoft Word and was exposed back in August 1995. At present, there are thousands of macro viruses in existence.

Examples of macro viruses are Relax, Melissa.A and Bablas.

Network Viruses:

A network virus is very much skilled in rapidly spreading across a Local Area Network (LAN) or even over the internet. Generally, it circulates through shared resources, such as shared drives and folders. When it infects a fresh system, it hunts for possible victims by scanning the network for other defenseless systems. When a defenseless system is found, the network virus infects the additional systems and thus spreads over the network.

Examples of some most dangerous viruses are Nimda and SQLStammer.

E-Mail Viruses:An e-mail virus can probably be a type of a macro virus that
spreads itself to all the contacts located in the hosts e-mail address book. If any of the e-mail recipients open the attachment of the infected mail, it spreads to the new hosts address book contacts, and then proceeds to send itself to all those contacts as well. Nowadays, e-mail viruses can infect hosts even if the infected e-mail is previewed in a mail client. One of the most widespread and destructive e-mail viruses is the ILOVEYOU virus. There are many methods by which a virus can infect or stay inactive on your computer. However, whether active or inactive, its dangerous to let one free on your system, and should be dealt with instantaneously.

What is meant by a worm?

1) A type of computer virus
Just like regular worms tunnel through dirt and soil, computer worms tunnel through your computer's memory and hard drive. A computer worm is a type ofvirus that replicates itself, but does not alter any files on your machine. However, worms can still cause havoc by multiplying so many times that they take up all your computer's available memory or hard disk space. If a worm consumes your memory, your computer will run very slowly and possibly even crash. If the worm affects your hard disk space, your computer will take a long time to access files and you will not be able to save or create new files until the worm has been eradicated. Worms are hard to detect because they are typically invisible files. They often go unnoticed until your computer begins to slow down or starts having other problems. Unlike viruses and Trojan horses, worms can replicate themselves and travel between systems without any action from the user. For these reasons, it is good to have an antivirus program installed on your system that can detect and remove worms before they have a chance to replicate or spread to other computers. Security updates such as Windows Update also patch security holes that allow worms to infect your computer. So keep your security updates and virus definitions up-to-date and you should be able to keep your computer worm-free.

Trojan Horse:In Greek mythology, there is a story about the Trojan War. This
war lasted many years, as the Greeks could not penetrate the heavily barricaded city of Troy. So one day, a few of the Greek soldiers brought the people of Troy a large wooden horse, which they accepted as a peace offering. The horse was moved inside the city walls, where it sat until the night. After the people of the city had fallen asleep, Greek soldiers jumped out of the wooden horse, opened the gates to let their fellow soldiers in, and took over the city. So what is the moral of this story? Mainly, beware of Trojan horses. But how does that relate to computers? That's a good question. In the computing world, Trojan horses are more than just a myth. They really exist and can cause damage to your computer. Trojan horses are software

programs that masquerade as regular programs, such as games, disk utilities, and even antivirus programs. But if they are run, these programs can do malicious things to your computer. For example, a Trojan horse might appear to be a computer game, but once you double-click it, the program starts writing over certain parts of your hard drive, corrupting your data. While this is certainly something you want to avoid, it is good to know that these malicious programs are only dangerous if they are given a chance to run. Also, most antivirus programs can catch Trojan horses when scanning for viruses. Unlike viruses, however, Trojan horses don't replicate themselves. Though it is possible for a Trojan horse to be attached to a virus file that spreads to multiple computers. So as a general rule, don't open a program unless you know it is legitimate. This applies especially to e-mail attachments that are executable files. Even if you are pretty sure the attachment is OK, it is still a good idea to run it through your virus scan program (with the latest virus definitions) just to be safe. Remember what happened to the people of Troy -- don't let a Trojan horse catch you off guard.

Spyware:As the name implies, this is software that "spies" on your computer. Nobody
likes to be spied on, and your computer doesn't like it either. Spyware can capture information like Web browsing habits, e-mail messages, usernames and passwords, and credit card information. If left unchecked, the software can transmit this data to another person's computer over the Internet. So how does spyware get on your computer? Just like viruses, spyware can be installed when you open an e-mail attachment containing the malicious software. It can also be installed when you install another program that has a spyware installer attached to it. Because of the insidious nature of spyware, most people don't even know when spyware is on their computer. Fortunately, you can purchase anti-spyware utilities that will search for spyware on your computer and stomp the unwanted software out of your system. A good way to prevent spyware from infecting your computer is to install a security program that lets you know when any program is being installed, so that you can choose to authorize or stop the installation.

Malware:

Short for "malicious software," malware refers to software programs designed

to damage or do other unwanted actions on a computer system. In Spanish, "mal" is a prefix that means "bad," making the term "badware," which is a good way to remember it (even if you're not Spanish). Common examples of malware include viruses,worms, trojan horses, and spyware. Viruses, for example, can cause havoc on a computer's hard drive by deleting files or directory information. Spyware can gather data from a user's system without the user knowing it. This can include anything from the Web pages a user visits to personal information, such as credit card numbers. It is unfortunate that there are software programmers out there with malicious intent, but it is good to be aware of the fact. You can install anti-virus and anti-spyware utilities on your

computer that will seek and destroy the malicious programs they find on your computer. So join the fight against badware and install some protective utilities on your hard drive!

Adware:

advertising-supported software

Adware is free software that is supported by advertisements. Common adware programs are toolbars that sit on your desktop or work in conjunction with your Web browser. They include features like advanced searching of the Web or your hard drive and better organization of your bookmarks and shortcuts. Adware can also be more advanced programs such as games or utilities. They are free to use, but require you to watch advertisements as long as the programs are open. Since the ads often allow you to click to a Web site, adware typically requires an active Internet connection to run. Most adware is safe to use, but some can serve as spyware, gathering information about you from your hard drive, the Web sites you visit, or your keystrokes. Spyware programs can then send the information over the Internet to another computer. So be careful what adware you install on your computer. Make sure it is from a reputable company and read the privacy agreement that comes with it.

Virus programs
The Creeper virus was first detected on ARPANET, the forerunner of the Internet, in the early 1970s.
[9]

Creeper was an experimental self-replicating program written by Bob Thomas at BBN

[10]

Technologies in 1971.

Creeper used the ARPANET to infect DEC PDP-10 computers running

[11]

the TENEX operating system.

Creeper gained access via the ARPANET and copied itself to the remote

system where the message, "I'm the creeper, catch me if you can!" was displayed. The Reaper program was created to delete Creeper.
[12]

A program called "Elk Cloner" was the first personal computer virus to appear "in the wild"that is, outside the single computer or lab where it was created.
[13]

Written in 1981 by Richard Skrenta, it attached

[13][14]

itself to the Apple DOS 3.3 operating system and spread via floppy disk.

This virus, created as a

practical joke when Skrenta was still in high school, was injected in a game on a floppy disk. On its 50th use the Elk Cloner virus would be activated, infecting the personal computer and displaying a short poem beginning "Elk Cloner: The program with a personality." The first IBM PC virus in the wild was a boot sector virus dubbed (c)Brain,
[15]

created in 1986 by the

[16]

Farooq Alvi Brothers in Lahore, Pakistan, reportedly to deter piracy of the software they had written. Before computer networks became widespread, most viruses spread on removable media,

particularly floppy disks. In the early days of the personal computer, many users regularly exchanged information and programs on floppies. Some viruses spread by infecting programs stored on these disks, while others installed themselves into the disk boot sector, ensuring that they would be run when the user booted the computer from the disk, usually inadvertently. Personal computers of the era would attempt to boot first from a floppy if one had been left in the drive. Until floppy disks fell out of use, this was the most successful infection strategy and boot sector viruses were the most common in the wild for many years.
[1]

Traditional computer viruses emerged in the 1980s, driven by the spread of personal computers and the resultant increase in BBS, modem use, and software sharing. Bulletin boarddriven software sharing contributed directly to the spread of Trojan horse programs, and viruses were written to infect popularly traded software. Shareware and bootleg software were equally commonvectors for viruses on BBSs.
needed] [citation

Viruses can increase their chances of spreading to other computers by infecting files on a network
[17][18]

file system or a file system that is accessed by other computers.

Macro viruses have become common since the mid-1990s. Most of these viruses are written in the scripting languages for Microsoft programs such as Word and Excel and spread throughoutMicrosoft Office by infecting documents and spreadsheets. Since Word and Excel were also available for Mac OS, most could also spread to Macintosh computers. Although most of these viruses did not have the ability to send infected email messages, those viruses which did take advantage of the Microsoft Outlook COM interface.
[citation needed]

Some old versions of Microsoft Word allow macros to replicate themselves with additional blank lines. If two macro viruses simultaneously infect a document, the combination of the two, if also self-replicating, can appear as a "mating" of the two and would likely be detected as a virus unique from the "parents". A virus may also send a web address link as an instant message to all the contacts on an infected machine. If the recipient, thinking the link is from a friend (a trusted source) follows the link to the website, the virus hosted at the site may be able to infect this new computer and continue propagating. Viruses that spread using cross-site scripting were first reported in 2002, demonstrated in 2005.
[21] [20] [19]

and were academically

There have been multiple instances of the cross-site scripting viruses in the

wild, exploiting websites such as MySpace and Yahoo!.

1966
The work of John von Neumann on the "Theory of self-reproducing automata" is published. Organization of Complicated Automata" back in 1949. [edit]19701979 [edit]1971 The Creeper virus, an experimental self-replicating program, is written by Bob Thomas at BBN Technologies. Creeper infected DEC PDP-10 computers running the TENEX operating system. Creeper gained access via the ARPANET and copied itself to the remote system where the message, "I'm the creeper, catch me if you can!" was displayed. The Reaper program was later created to delete Creeper. The Creeper Virus was eventually deleted by a program known as The Reaper. The Creeper Virus was eventually deleted by a program known as The Reaper. You may consider The Reaper the first antivirus software, but the word "virus" wasn't used as the official name of a computer invasion of this type until it was coined by American computer scientist Frederick B. Cohen in 1983.
[3] [2] [1]

The

article is based on lectures held by von Neumann at the University of Illinois about the "Theory and

The Creeper was followed by several more viruses, but the first official antivirus software was developed a few years later. It was called self-reproduction software. This means that the software simply kept a virus from creating copies of itself, which is the primary function of a virus. It really didn't protect the computer from multitude outside forces like today's internet security software does. The actual removal of viruses using anti-virus technology didn't begin until the late 1980s. The first removal of a computer virus is believed to have been performed by Bernd Fix in 1987. Fix, a computer security expert, is credited with the removal of the Vienna Virus. The Vienna Virus is still used throughout the world. It infects uninfected files in a computer every time an infected file is run. Fortunately, this virus can be detected and removed with today's antivirus software. Some believe that Fix may not have been the first person to remove a computer virus, however, because right around the same time, the Atari Corporation developed G Data antivirus software, in conjunction with G Data Software, Inc. Soon after, G Data was followed by UVK 2000. These antivirus software applications were developed for Atari Corporation's personal computer line that was created in 1985. No one can be sure exactly which program was the first antivirus software, but one thing is in fact clear to the millions of computer users that log on each year; thanks to those early programmers and computersecurity pioneers, our computers and personal information are safe from hackers and viruses.

First computer virus:

The first computer virus, called "Creeper", was written by Bob Thomas in 1971. The virus would display the message, "I'm a creeper, catch me if you can!" and messed with people's printers. It was written as a security test to see if a self-replicating program could be written (although technically it didn't self-replicate). To stop "Creeper", the first ANTI-virus was created. The anti-virus was called "Reaper". An executable file is a type of computer file that runs a program when it is opened. This means it executes code or a series of instructions contained in the file

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