Introduction to Computer

Semester: BS 5th
Environmental Sciences

Course Instructor
Rida Faiz
Today we will Learn:
What is Computer Virus?

Characteristics of Virus

Email Virus, Trojan Horse and Worms

Difference Between Virus and Worm

How does a computer virus operate?

Computer Virus Symptoms

Types of Computer Viruses

How to protect against computer viruses (Do’s and Don’ts) ?

What is Computer Virus?
A computer virus is a malicious program that
self-replicates by copying itself to another
program. In other words, the computer virus
spreads by itself into other documents. The
purpose of creating a computer virus is to infect
systems, gain admin control and steal user
sensitive data. Hackers design computer viruses
with malicious intent and prey on online users by
tricking them. A computer virus has the capacity
to corrupt or to delete data on your computer
Characteristics of Computer Virus?

Following are a couple of characteristics of any virus that

infects our computers.

Theyreside in a computer’s memory and activates

themselves while the program that is attached starts running.

For example − They attach themselves in general to

the explorer.exe 

They always try to hide themselves in the operating systems

in the following ways
◦ Encrypts itself into cryptic symbols, and they decrypt themselves
when they replicate or execute.
Characteristics of Computer Virus?

• After finding this file, opened it with a text editor and as thought
the text was not understandable as shown in the following
screenshot.
Characteristics of Computer Virus?
After finding this, tried it on a base64 decoder and I found that it
was a Virus file.
Characteristics of Computer Virus?
This virus can cause the following to your computer:

• It may delete important data from your computer to gain space

for their processes.

• It may perform tasks by triggering an event with itself. For

example, this happens when in an infected computer pop-up
tables etc., show up automatically on the screen.
What is Email Virus?
One of the ideal methods by which viruses spread is through
emails opening the attachment in the email, visiting an
infected website, clicking on an executable file, or viewing an
infected advertisement can cause the virus to spread to your
system.

Besides that, infections also spread while connecting with

already infected removable storage devices, such as USB
drives.

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.
What is Trojan Horse?
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.

A Trojan horse or Trojan is a type of malware that is often

disguised as legitimate software. Trojans can be employed by
cyber-thieves and hackers trying to gain access to users' systems.

These actions can include:

Deleting data
Blocking data
Modifying data
Copying data
What is Worm?
A worm is similar to a virus by its design, and is considered to be a
sub-class of a virus. Worms spread from computer to computer, but
unlike a virus, it has the capability to travel without any help from a
person. A worm takes advantage of file or information transport
features on your system, which allows it to travel

The biggest danger with a worm is its capability to replicate itself on

your system, so rather than your computer sending out a single
worm, it could send out hundreds or thousands of copies of itself,
creating a huge devastating effect. One example would be for a
worm to send a copy of itself to everyone listed in your e-mail
address book. Then, the worm replicates and sends itself out to
everyone listed in each of the receiver's address book, and the
manifest continues on down the line. Due to the copying nature of a
worm and its capability to travel across networks 
Difference Between Virus
and Worm?
The primary difference between a virus and a worm
is that viruses must be triggered by the activation of their host;
whereas worms are stand-alone malicious programs that can
self-replicate and propagate independently as soon as they have
breached the system.

Worm could be defined as a computer program like virus get more

in number and executes itself to make system slow and degrades
its performance.

Virus could be defined as a computer program or software which

get installed unknowingly by the user
How does a computer virus
operate?
Viruses operate in a multitude of ways. Some will stay active
only when the application to which it is attached is running.
Others will be inactive once the computer is turned off, while
some will run every time you turn your computer on after it
has infected the network or system files.
Computer Virus Symptoms
There are some indicators that will tell you that your computer is infected:

Your computer is running slower than normal

Computer applications are not working right
Disk drivers and disks have become inaccessible
You cannot print
You find unusual, error messages
New and unusual icons suddenly appear on your desktop
Strange music or sounds suddenly play from the speakers

To safeguard your files and to protect your computer, take time to
understand computer viruses and what you should avoid doing to save
your system from the virus. Be sure to always turn on the firewall, keep
your computer’s operating system updated, always turn on windows
defender.
Types of Computer Viruses
There are the Following types of Computer
Virus:

Boot Sector Virus

Direct Action Virus
Multipartite Virus
Polymorphic Virus
Overwrite Virus
Types of Computer Viruses
Boot Sector Virus: A boot sector virus is malware that infects the
computer storage sector where startup files are found. (boot=start) . It is typically
the hard disk where these files are resides. In some cases data from partitioned
hard drive will be removed.

Master Boot Record (MBR) is a small program that runs every time the computer
starts up. It controls the boot sequence and determines which partition the
computer boots from. The MBR generally resides on the first sector of the hard
disk. (typically C: )

Since the MBR executes every time a computer is started, a boot sector virus is
extremely dangerous. Once the boot code on the drive is infected, the virus will be
loaded into memory on every startup. From memory, the boot virus can spread to
every disk that the system reads. Boot sector viruses are typically very difficult to
remove. In most cases, it takes bootable antivirus disks such as
a Symantec/Norton Anti Virus (SAV/NAV) rescue set to properly remove a boot
sector virus.
Types of Computer Viruses
Direct Action Virus: A direct action virus is one of the
two main types of file infector viruses .The virus is considered
“non-resident”; it doesn’t install itself or remain hidden in your
computer’s memory.

It works by attaching itself to a particular type of file (typically

EXE or COM files). When someone executes the file, it springs
into life.

the virus does not typically delete files nor hinder your system’s
performance. Aside from some files becoming inaccessible, it
has a minimal impact on a user and can be easily removed with
an anti-virus program.
Types of Computer Viruses
Multipartite Virus:  A virus of this type may
spread in multiple ways, and it may take different
actions on an infected computer. They can
simultaneously infect both the boot sector and
executable files, allowing them to act quickly and
spread rapidly.
This attack makes them tough to remove. Even if
you clean a machine’s program files, if the virus
remains in the boot sector, it will immediately
reproduce once you turn on the computer again.
Types of Computer Viruses
Polymorphic Virus:  polymorphic viruses are one of the
most difficult to detect and remove virus. It claims anti-virus
firms need to “spend days or months creating the detection
routines needed to catch a single polymorphic”.

 But why are they so hard to protect against? The clue is in

the name. Anti-virus software can only blacklist one variant
of a virus but a polymorphic virus changes its nature every
time it replicates. To an anti-virus program, it looks like an
entirely different piece of software
Types of Computer Viruses
Overwrite Virus:  To an end-user, an overwrite virus is
one of the most frustrating, even if it’s not particularly
dangerous for your system as a whole.
That’s because it will delete the contents of any file which it
infects; the only way to remove the virus is to delete the file,
and consequently, lose its contents. Identifying the overwrite
virus is difficult as it spreads through emails.
How to protect against computer
viruses (Do’s and Don’ts) ?
When you arm yourself with information and resources, you’re wiser about computer security threats and
less vulnerable to threat tactics. Take these steps to safeguard your PC with the best computer virus
protection:
 
 Use antivirus protection and a firewall

 Always keep your antivirus protection up-to-date

 Update your operating system regularly

 Increase your browser security settings

 Avoid questionable Web sites

 Only download software from sites you trust.

 Carefully evaluate free software and file-sharing applications before downloading them.  

 Don't open messages from unknown senders

 Immediately delete emails you suspect to be spam

How to protect against computer
viruses (Do’s and Don’ts) ?
 That’s all for Today !
Hope you have got everything