"5 Types of Computer Viruses - What are the Differences Between Them?"
There are many different types of computer viruses that are spreading on computers today, especially over the Internet. Out of thousands of different viruses have been detected to date, it can be divided into several major categories, depending on what they do and how they do it.
The following explains the five major types of computer viruses that often cause PC users headache.
1) Worm
This type of virus replicates themselves from system to system without any user interaction. Usually the worm will release a document that already has the "worm" macro inside the document. The entire document will travel from computer to computer, so the entire document should be considered the worm.
2) Macro virus
This type of virus infects data files, such as Microsoft Word or Excel files. These viruses rely on the pseudo-programming code in application documents to perform specific operations in the background when you load a document into your application program.
3) Trojan Horse
Trojan Horses are impostors - files that claim to be something desirable but, in fact, are malicious. The difference between trojan horse programs and true viruses is that they do not replicate themselves. Trojans contain malicious code that when triggered cause loss, or even theft of data.
4) Script virus
These viruses are written in one of the script languages (Java, ActiveX, or VBScript) used to create certain Web pages and email messages, and are activated when the script is run. Virus-infected VBScript files attached to email messages are probably the most common means of virus distribution today.
5) Boot sector virus
These viruses affect the boot sector of the hard drives. The virus program will load first, before the operating system. So, it will start to spread rapidly upon each startup, and makes the computer system very unstable.
In addition to attacks through programs sent to your computer in the hope you'll run them, you'll be subject to direct attack by people looking for specific vulnerabilities in your software that let them take control of your PC. This is called cracks or hacks by the hackers.
There are countless types of computer viruses on the internet today, and many can be prevented from spreading with the right tools and software protection in place. Antivirus software packages and suites can alert the user of the threat and condition of the system, scan the computer periodically to eradicate any suspicious files, and be run in real-time mode which is the best protection from coming threats.
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