Introduction to Virus:
A computer virus is a type of malicious software (malware) that infects computers and can replicate itself, spread to other computers, and cause various forms of damage. Similar to biological viruses, computer viruses attach themselves to legitimate programs or files and can spread rapidly, often without the user’s knowledge.
Computer viruses can be designed to perform a variety of harmful actions, including:
- Data Corruption: Viruses may corrupt or delete files and data on the infected computer, leading to loss of important information.
- System Disruption: Some viruses are programmed to disrupt the normal functioning of a computer system, causing it to crash or become unstable.
- Spying and Theft: Certain viruses are designed to steal sensitive information such as passwords, credit card numbers, or personal documents from the infected computer, which can then be used for identity theft or other malicious purposes.
- Botnet Formation: Some viruses can turn infected computers into “zombies” or bots, which can be controlled remotely by hackers to carry out malicious activities such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks or sending spam emails.
- Ransomware: This type of virus encrypts files on the infected computer and demands payment (usually in cryptocurrency) from the victim in exchange for the decryption key needed to unlock the files.
Computer viruses can spread through various means, including infected email attachments, malicious websites, file-sharing networks, and infected USB drives or other removable media. To protect against computer viruses, it’s essential to use antivirus software, keep operating systems and software up-to-date with the latest security patches, be cautious when downloading files from the internet or opening email attachments from unknown sources, and regularly back up important data.