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Viruses, Trojans and Worms: The Many Threats Against Personal ComputerBY: Maya Ballesteros | Category: Technology | Submitted: 2010-09-04 06:57:26
Every computer owner has definitely heard of virus, trojan and worms. Whether or not they know exactly what each of these is, they have heard and know these programming codes are dangerous for their computer or laptop. What are the difference between these malware? How are they threatening our computers exactly? Virus Virus is a programming code that self-replicates that needs a host file to attach itself. It is impossible for a virus to do what it is supposed to do on is own. A virus is like a parasite that feeds off its host. When you use the host file, that is when the virus kicks in and start to wreak havoc. The virus is dormant as long as the host is not run. Some viruses are written purely for pranks and they are usually not dangerous. Viruses writers these days though are paid to write for a more malicious intent. There is money to be had when computers are infected and criminals are always on the lookout for new viruses. Again, all viruses need a running application in order to do their job. They only activate when infected files are opened or commanded to run. Trojan Just like its name sake, trojan is a file that cloak itself as something interesting or useful, but inside it is actually an executable file with malicious application. It is a standalone program that needs no host. It can work on its own and can run without embedding code to a file. It does need user activation to act, however. That is why users are usually lured with misleading description of the nature of the program. You may be told that the application will help you organize your mails or that it is a fun, interesting game. Once you click to install the trojan, the file is executed and it will start doing its damage, stealing information, overpower the computer and infected other users in your network. This is very dangerous since, in its effort to infect other users, the trojan uses your profile to send malicious files and since the sent file is usually disguised as a game, screen saver or antivirus application, other users will usually click and execute thinking it is perfectly safe since it comes from you. As you may have guessed the name derived from the wooden horse trick used during Trojan War in the ancient time where the attacking group of soldiers are hidden inside the intriguing big horse made of wood. Spyware is a trojan or a disguised malware programmed to spy on your activity online and offline, recording your transactions, the sites you used, the information you typed into any application in your computer, all with the intent of collection personal information known only to you to be sold to highest bidder. This practice usually doesn't threaten your system but can be very risky when it comes to identity theft. Worm Worms are different from viruses or trojans in the way they need no activation from human users to do their malicious job. They can sneak in, infect and spread themselves quickly on their own. Worms do all these by sending copies of themselves to addresses stored in an email account. It will only look like your contact has sent you a message. Unfortunately, if your contact's email account has been infected, the worms are now spreading into your account and sending copies of itself to all of your own contacts. This is very dangerous since naturally everybody has a number of people in their contact list and those lists create a huge network of potential victims to the worms. When a worm finds itself successfully snuck into a enterprise's email network, the whole company productivity can be frozen up. Malware of any kind is created in this day and age to make parts of a computer to do something out of the ordinary and to paralyze a system. The programming code are usually installed silently or come disguised as useful and/or fun program to use. Needless to say, the manner of which they arrive is not as important as the fact that they are all a serious threat. Malware infection can be fought off by installing an updated virus, setting up a good firewall and making sure you yourself are thoroughly educated and updated to all kinds of threats out there which may harm your computer as well as the various ways to recognize, identify, avoid and prevent their attacks. Article Source: http://www.writearticles.org/ About Author / Additional Info: Comments on this article: (0 comments so far)
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