VIRUS stands for Vital Information Resource Under Siege.

The antivirus tool is the second most widely used category of software after the operating system, viruses are the cause of losses amounting to millions of dollars due to data/network usage loss. More than 10% of the data losses around the globe are attributed to virus infection. There are more than 90,000 known viruses.

A computer virus is unlike the biological organism, it is just another program like your Word, Media Player, Windows or your accounting packages you use everyday. The only difference is that they are programmed to do havoc and damage rather than assist the user in doing a specific task. Or in other words Viruses are intelligently designed but extremely malicious pieces of code work that also have the capability to replicate and do damage.

Some of the notorious viruses that we know are the CIH, Melissa, I Love You, NATAS (which reads SATAN backwards), Jerusalem, Nimda, Code Red etc.,

Viruses could be broadly classified into Boot sector, File Infecting, Polymorphic, Stealth and a wide category of worms. Their payload also differ according to their type.

Boot sector viruses infect the boot sector (an area that forms the first track of the disk and contains information that is required to boot the computer) whereas File viruses infect executable files (such as .com, .exe, .ole, etc). Stealth viruses attempt to hide not only from the operating system but also from the anti-virus software, which makes them extremely difficult to identify. Polymorphic viruses also tries to stay undetectable from the anti-virus software but also keep changing their appearance (like our underworld dons!).

Worms are small pieces of code which could be included in just about anything like a flash greeting card, a picture file or a screensaver, also a Trojan is a malicious security-violating program, which claims to do something useful but in reality is intentionally programmed to cause destruction to a computer without the user's knowledge. They piggy back on a good program and then steal your credit card information / passwords etc., and mails it back to its developer. (The name Trojan harks back to the famous Trojan War, in which the Greeks successfully invaded Troy by hiding some of their soldiers in a huge wooden horse.)

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Whenever a computer starts or boots up, it first accesses the boot sector, which directs it to load the operating system. Boot sector viruses infect the boot sector by attaching themselves to this area. As soon as the computer starts the virus installs itself in the memory and from there on slowly extends its presence by entering other areas of the computer. Once it enters the system, it tries to enter other computers; the usual medium for this is through e-mail, Web sites, instant messengers, storage media (floppies, zip cartridges, CDs, hard disks, etc) and also through network connections.

An email from a friend whose computer is infected could carry a virus. Moreover, the email might have never been sent by your friend, the virus automatically sends an email to all the people in his address book.

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Software that checks your PC for malicious code and helps eliminate viruses are called as antivirus programs. There are many antivirus programs, I would recommend Norton Antivirus or McAfee. Incase you are not interested in spending a few bucks on these antivirus then the best bet is to download and install AVG Antivirus from www.grisoft.com, it is free.

The good guyz here are the anti virus developers who constantly study new variants of viruses which are released and then write programs to find and remove them. They also program their antivirus so as to make it capable of detecting variants of viruses that are not yet developed, somewhat similar to our biologists and scientists working in the labs.

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(1)   Get a good antivirus like Norton or McAfee or you could scout the web for some free anti viruses. (AVG Antivirus is one such free & powerful software).

(2)   Update your anti virus signature at least ones a week it does not take more than 2-3 minutes. Each anti virus has its own way of updating its database.

(3)   Most viruses spread by exploiting the bugs in the software you use, so its advisable to visit the developer s website and keep your software updated and having the latest exploit code patches installed.

(4)   Never ever open an email from an unknown source especially if it contains an attachment. Still more if it contains a strange subject line like Anna Kournikova pics for u , Your advice needed , the screen saver you wanted etc.,

(5)   Scan every diskette or CD that enters your PC.

(6)   Porn sites are a breeding ground for virus programs, programs like FOR FULL ACCESS...DOWNLOAD ME NOW!! may contain a virus that exposes your PC to hackers & infact gives them full access to your PC!

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A famous law on how to protect your PC from hackers, viruses and data losses states

(1)   Don t buy a PC

(2)   Still if you do buy one, don t turn it on!!

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Overheard at one of my client's house -

John!! Don t go near the PC you might catch a cold, you dad told me that it is infected with a virus