An Introduction to Computer
Viruses
Overview
Viruses are actually very simple. Once you understand
exactly what they can and cannot do, it's much easier to take appropriate precautions.
Viruses are a problem but they are not the main thing you should be concerned
about. There are many other threats to your programs and data that are much
more likely to harm you than viruses. Problems such as hardware glitches, software
conflicts, software bugs, and even typos are much more likely to cause undetected
damage to your data than viruses.
Reminder: You can only get a virus by executing (running or opening) an infected program or by booting from an infected disk. You can't get a virus by just being online or reading email. You have to download a file and then open/execute/run it. |
What is a Computer Virus?
A computer virus is a small computer program that
makes copies of itself on computer disks. Viruses may (directly or indirectly)
(infect) (copy to and spread from), executable program files, or programs in
disk sectors, and even some non-executable files which use macros. This parasitic
nature that virus programs have is neither an accident, nor a computer glitch.
In fact, all viruses are created by people who know how to write computer programs.
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