Computer Viruses

Symptoms of trajan horse and worms in email messages

2009-12-23T04:24:00.000-08:00

When a computer virus infects e-mail messages or infects other files on a computer, you may notice the following symptoms:

The infected file may make copies of itself. This behavior may use up all the free space on the hard disk.

A copy of the infected file may be sent to all the addresses in an e-mail address list.

The computer virus may reformat the hard disk. This behavior will delete files and programs.
The computer virus may install hidden programs, such as pirated software. This pirated software may then be distributed and sold from the computer.

The computer virus may reduce security. This could enable intruders to remotely access the computer or the network.

You receive an e-mail message that has a strange attachment. When you open the attachment, dialog boxes appear, or a sudden degradation in system performance occurs.

Someone tells you that they have recently received e-mail messages from you that contained attached files that you did not send. The files that are attached to the e-mail messages have extensions such as .exe, .bat, .scr, and .vbs extensions

Symptoms of a computer virus

2009-12-23T04:22:00.000-08:00

If you suspect or confirm that your computer is infected with a computer virus, obtain the current antivirus software. The following are some primary indicators that a computer may be infected:

The computer runs slower than usual.
The computer stops responding, or it locks up frequently.
The computer crashes, and then it restarts every few minutes.
The computer restarts on its own. Additionally, the computer does not run as usual.
Applications on the computer do not work correctly.
Disks or disk drives are inaccessible.
You cannot print items correctly.
You see unusual error messages.
You see distorted menus and dialog boxes.
There is a double extension on an attachment that you recently opened, such as a .jpg, .vbs, .gif, or .exe. extension.
An antivirus program is disabled for no reason. Additionally, the antivirus program cannot be restarted.
An antivirus program cannot be installed on the computer, or the antivirus program will not run.
New icons appear on the desktop that you did not put there, or the icons are not associated with any recently installed programs.
Strange sounds or music plays from the speakers unexpectedly.
A program disappears from the computer even though you did not intentionally remove the program.

Note These are common signs of infection. However, these signs may also be caused by hardware or software problems that have nothing to do with a computer virus. Unless you run the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool, and then you install industry-standard, up-to-date antivirus software on your computer, you cannot be certain whether a computer is infected with a computer virus or not.

An Easy way to get rid of Computer Viruses

2009-12-18T02:26:00.000-08:00

They are very difficult to eliminate without knowledge.

Many people, who use computers for work or for pleasure, may experience a computer virus at some point. They are very difficult to eliminate, especially if you have only basic knowledge of computers and computing.

Viruses that affect computers come in a variety of guises, but all are very destructive to your machine. They are capable of deleting, corrupting and modifying the files on your system. Computer viruses can also manipulate the security measures that you have on your system. The virus will taint the computer system by infiltrating items such as free downloads and applications, files, programs and e-mails. In order for the computer to be infected, the virus needs to be installed and opened on the machine.

The people that operate these viruses are constantly changing them in order to try and keep one step ahead. Even for the most professional of computer users, it can be perplexing to try and wipe the machine of the virus. Having a fail-safe security program installed on your computer can help to prevent the virus from spreading. Many security packages are able to locate the threat of a virus or prevent the virus from infecting your computer.

There are many security measure software programs available on the market. You can either buy in the high street, or online. Some are free but most involve purchasing the software. Once this software is installed, it can do things such as conduct a daily scan to help track and prevent incoming viruses. Installing one of the programs that performs scans can help stop the virus application from being installed and opened, thus preventing the virus from infecting your files.

Ridding your system of the infections is a lot easier

Without the right software, it is virtually impossible to get rid of computer viruses. However, with the right tools, ridding your system of the infections is a lot easier. What usually happens is the software will locate and isolate the virus by identifying the malicious patterns of the virus.

For satisfactory removal of any viruses on your computer system, it is best to use tools that have been described above. You may find some on the high street, but the majority will be found at online Internet sites. You may be able to download trial versions of virus scanning software from many of the websites.

download rocketman dvdrip Protecting your computer system from viruses is of paramount importance to avoiding dangerous and harmful viruses from destroying your work or home computer.

Most dangerous computer viruses of past

2009-12-18T00:52:00.000-08:00

Dangerous Viruses of Past

Jerusalem - 1988

This is one of the first MS-DOS viruses in history that caused enormous destructions, affecting many countries, universities and company worldwide. On Friday 13, 1988 the computer virus managed to infect a number of institutions in Europe, America and the Middle East. The name was given to the virus after one of the first places that got "acquainted" with it - the Jerusalem University.

Along with a number of other computer viruses, including "Cascade", "Stoned", "Vienna" the Jerusalem virus managed to infect thousands of computers while still remaining unnoticed. Back then the anti-virus programs were not as advanced as they are today and a lot of users had little belief of the existence of computer viruses.

Morris (a.k.a. Internet Worm) - November 1988

This computer virus infected over 6,000 computer systems in the United States, including the famous NASA research Institute, which for some time remained completely paralyzed. Due to erratic code, the worm managed to send millions of copies of itself to different network computers, being able to entirely paralyze all network resources. The damages caused by the Morris computer virus were estimated at $96 millions.

To be able to spread the computer virus used errors in such operating systems as Unix for VAX and Sun Microsystems. There were a number of other interesting ideas used by the virus - for example it could pick user passwords.

Solar Sunrise - 1998

A decade later the situation didn't change, it might have gotten even got worse. Using a computer virus, hackers, in 1998, penetrated and took control of over 500 computers systems that belonged to the army, government and private sector of the United States. The whole situation was dubbed Solar Sunrise after the popular vulnerabilities in computers that run on the operating system called Sun Solaris. Initially it was believed that the attacks were planed by the operatives in Iraq. It was later revealed that the incidents represented the work of two American teenagers from California. After the attacks, the Defense Department took drastic actions to prevent future incidents of this kind.

Melissa - 1999

For the first time computers got acknowledged with Melissa computer virus on March 26, 1999, when the virus shut down Internet mail system, which got blocked with e-mails infected by the worm. It is worth mentioning that at first Melissa was not meant to cause any harm, but after it overloaded servers the virus led to unpredictable problems. For the first time it spread in the Usenet discussion group alt.sex. Melissa was hidden within a file called "List.DiC", which featured passwords that served as keys to unlocking 80 pornographic websites. The original form of the virus was sent through e-mail to different users.

Melissa computer virus was developed by David L. Smith in Aberdeen Township, New Jersey. Its name comes from a lap dancer that the programmer got acknowledged with while in Florida. After being caught, the creator of the virus was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a fine of $5,000. The arrest represented a collaboration of FBI, New Jersey State Police and Monmouth Internet.

Melissa had the ability to multiply on Microsoft Word 97 and Word 2000, as well as Microsoft Excel 97, 2000 and 2003. In addition, the virus had the ability to mass-mail itself from Microsoft Outlook 97 or Outlook 98.

Got a virus on ur PC? Now what to do?

2009-12-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

Boot sector virus removal can be a tricky business as these are some of the most evil and difficult kinds of viruses.

They lodge in your boot sector, the part of your computer that is responsible for loading or “booting” the rest of it, so that as soon as your computer is turned on, the virus is already loaded into memory. This can be a big problem, because a cleverly designed boot sector virus can convince your computer that there is no virus at all when it loads as I found out recently.

lost and delirious movie Apparently the best way for boot sector virus removal is to make a backup “clean” disk. This disk loads your computer when you stick it in the drive, so it is not loading from the boot sector, which has been contaminated by a virus. This way, you can load your computer virus free and then clean the virus off of it.

Boot sector virus removal isn’t the only protection you might need on your computer. You need spyware removal as well. Spyware is a little like viruses, but much less harmful.

When you visit certain websites with spam, they will put a program in your web browser which keeps track of your information and sends it back to them. It follows what websites you go to, what you buy, etc., and uses it to market things to you.

It also slows down your computer and opens pop-up windows that you don’t want to see, which is very distracting and annoying. Some adware can even divert your web browser, sending you to websites you don’t want to see, and stopping you from getting to the ones you’re trying to get to.

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Always make sure you have a virus protection software loaded on your computer. This will help you avoid any ugly bugs from invading your computer.

How Does Computer a Virus Works?

2009-12-17T09:07:00.000-08:00

Strange as it may sound, the computer virus is something of an Information Age marvel. On one hand, viruses show us how vulnerable we are -- a properly engineered virus can have a devastating effect, disrupting productivity and doing billions of dollars in damages. On the other hand, they show us how sophisticated and interconnected human beings have become.
For example, experts estimate that the Mydoom worm infected approximately a quarter-million computers in a single day in January 2004. Back in March 1999, the Melissa virus was so powerful that it forced Microsoft and a number of other very large companies to completely turn off their e-mail systems until the virus could be contained. The ILOVEYOU virus in 2000 had a similarly devastating effect. In January 2007, a worm called Storm appeared -- by October, experts believed up to 50 million computers were infected. That's pretty impressive when you consider that many viruses are incredibly simple

When you listen to the news, you hear about many different forms of electronic infection. The most common are:
Viruses - A virus is a small piece of software that piggybacks on real programs. For example, a virus might attach itself to a program such as a spreadsheet program. Each time the spreadsheet program runs, the virus runs, too, and it has the chance to reproduce (by attaching to other programs) or wreak havoc.
E-mail viruses - An e-mail virus travels as an attachment to e-mail messages, and usually replicates itself by automatically mailing itself to dozens of people in the victim's e-mail address book. Some e-mail viruses don't even require a double-click -- they launch when you view the infected message in the preview pane of your e-mail software.
Trojan horses - A Trojan horse is simply a computer program. The program claims to do one thing (it may claim to be a game) but instead does damage when you run it (it may erase your hard disk). Trojan horses have no way to replicate automatically.
Worms - A worm is a small piece of software that uses computer networks and security holes to replicate itself. A copy of the worm scans the network for another machine that has a specific security hole. It copies itself to the new machine using the security hole, and then starts replicating from there, as well.

History Of Computer Viruses

2009-12-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

History Of Viruses

In the 1950's at Bell Laboratories, "John von Neumann's" theory in which he made in 1949 was put to the test. His theory stated that it was (MS Encarta 98, Virus [computer], History) "Theoretically possible for a computer program to replicate". His theory was tested after a game called "Core Wars" was developed whereby (MS Encarta 98, Virus [computer], History) "Players created tiny computer programs that attacked, erased, and tried to propagate on an opponent's system".

Computer viruses have a relatively short history by the damages caused by some of the most dangerous viruses pushed cyber-experts to open a chapter that includes a huge database on computer viruses and the cost of damages caused along with companies, government and universities highly affected by malware.

Comparison of Computer and biological Viruses

2009-12-17T09:01:00.000-08:00

Human Virus Effects

Attack specific body cells' Modify the genetic information of acell other than previous one. It performs tasks. New viruses grow in theinfected cell itself. An infected program may not exhibit symptoms for awhile. Not all cells with which the virus contact are infected. Viruses canmutate and thus cannot clearly be diagnosed. Infected cells aren't infected morethan once by the same cell.

Computer Virus Effects

Attack specific programs (*.com,*.exe) Manipulate the program: The infectedprogram produces virus programs. The infected program can work without error fora long time. Program can be made immune against certain viruses. Virus programcan modify themselves & possibly escape detection this way. Programs areinfected only once by most viruses.

What is a Computer Virus?

2009-12-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

A virus is an independent program that reproduces itself. It can attachitself to other programs and make copies of itself (i.e., companion viruses).It can damage or corrupt data, or lower the performance of your system by usingresources like memory or disk space. A virus can be annoying or it can cost youlots of cold hard cash. A virus is just another name for a class of programs.They do anything that another program can. The only distinguishingcharacteristic is the program has ability to reproduce and infect other programs.Is a computer virus similar to a human virus?

Computer viruses are small software programs that are designed to spread from one computer to another and to interfere with computer operation.
A virus might corrupt or delete data on your computer, use your e-mail program to spread itself to other computers, or even erase everything on your hard disk.
Viruses are often spread by attachments in e-mail messages or instant messaging messages. That is why it is essential that you never open e-mail attachments unless you know who it's from and you are expecting it.
Viruses can be disguised as attachments of funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video files.
Viruses also spread through downloads on the Internet. They can be hidden in illicit software or other files or programs you might download.

To help avoid viruses, it's essential that you keep your computer current with the latest updates and antivirus tools, stay informed about recent threats, run your computer as a standard user (not as administrator), and that you follow a few basic rules when you surf the Internet, download files, and open attachments.
Once a virus is on your computer, its type or the method it used to get there is not as important as removing it and preventing further infection.

Up Comming viruses

2009-08-25T03:38:00.000-07:00

OPRAH WINFREY VIRUS:
Your 200MB hard drive suddenly shrinks to 80MB, and then slowly expands back to 200MB.

AT&T VIRUS: Every three minutes it tells you what great service you are getting.

MCI VIRUS: Every three minutes it reminds you that you're paying too much for the AT&T virus.

PAUL REVERE VIRUS: This revolutionary virus does not horse around. It warns you of impending hard disk attack---once if by LAN, twice if by C:>.

POLITICALLY CORRECT VIRUS: Never calls itself a "virus", but instead refers to itself as an "electronic microorganism."

RIGHT TO LIFE VIRUS: Won't allow you to delete a file, regardless of how old it is. If you attempt to erase a file, it requires you to first see a counselor about possible alternatives.

ROSS PEROT VIRUS: Activates every component in your system, just before the whole darn thing quits.

MARIO CUOMO VIRUS:
It would be a great virus, but it refuses to run.

TED TURNER VIRUS: Colorizes your monochrome monitor.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER VIRUS: Terminates and stays resident. It'll be back.

DAN QUAYLE VIRUS #2: Their is sumthing rong wit your komputer, ewe jsut cant figyour out watt!

GOVERNMENT ECONOMIST VIRUS:
Nothing works, but all your diagnostic software says everything is fine.

NEW WORLD ORDER VIRUS:
Probably harmless, but it makes a lot of people really mad just thinking about it.

FEDERAL BUREAUCRAT VIRUS:
Divides your hard disk into hundreds of little units, each of which does practically nothing, but all of which claim to be the most important part of your computer.

GALLUP VIRUS:
Sixty percent of the PCs infected will lose 38 percent of their data 14 percent of the time. (plus or minus a 3.5 percent margin of error.)

TERRY RANDALL VIRUS: Prints "Oh no you don't" whenever you choose "Abort" from the "Abort" "Retry" "Fail" message.

TEXAS VIRUS: Makes sure that it's bigger than any other file.

ADAM AND EVE VIRUS: Takes a couple of bytes out of your Apple.
CONGRESSIONAL VIRUS: The computer locks up, screen splits erratically with a message appearing on each half blaming the other side for the problem.

AIRLINE VIRUS: You're in Dallas, but your data is in Singapore.

FREUDIAN VIRUS: Your computer becomes obsessed with marrying its own motherboard.

PBS VIRUS: Your programs stop every few minutes to ask for money.

ELVIS VIRUS: Your computer gets fat, slow and lazy, then self destructs; only to resurface at shopping malls and service stations across rural America.

OLLIE NORTH VIRUS: Causes your printer to become a paper shredder.

NIKE VIRUS: Just does it.

SEARS VIRUS: Your data won't appear unless you buy new cables, power supply and a set of shocks.

JIMMY HOFFA VIRUS: Your programs can never be found again.

CONGRESSIONAL VIRUS #2: Runs every program on the hard drive simultaneously, but doesn't allow the user to accomplish anything.

KEVORKIAN VIRUS: Helps your computer shut down as an act of mercy.

IMELDA MARCOS VIRUS: Sings you a song (slightly off key) on boot up, then subtracts money from your Quicken account and spends it all on expensive shoes it purchases through Prodigy.

STAR TREK VIRUS: Invades your system in places where no virus has gone before.

HEALTH CARE VIRUS: Tests your system for a day, finds nothing wrong, and sends you a bill for $4,500.

GEORGE BUSH VIRUS: It starts by boldly stating, "Read my docs....No new files!" on the screen. It proceeds to fill up all the free space on your hard drive with new files, then blames it on the Congressional Virus.

CLEVELAND INDIANS VIRUS: Makes your 486/50 machine perform like a 286/AT.

LAPD VIRUS: It claims it feels threatened by the other files on your PC and erases them in "self defense".

CHICAGO CUBS VIRUS: Your PC makes frequent mistakes and comes in last in the reviews, but you still love it.

ORAL ROBERTS VIRUS: Claims that if you don't send it a million dollars, it's programmer will take it back