Computer Viruses

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Definition of virus "Computer viruses" is the term that defines the class of programs which illegally explore resources of systems. It is an executable code able to reproduce itself. Viruses are an area of pure programming, and, unlike other computer programs, carry intellectual functions on protection from being found and destroyed. They have to fight for survival in complex conditions of conflicting computer systems. Computer viruses have pervaded popular culture at least as successfully as they have the world's computer population. Computer viruses replicate by attaching themselves to a host a program or computer and co-opting the host's resources to make copies of themselves. Symptoms can range from unpleasant to fatal. Computer viruses spread from program to program and computer to computer. There are other computer pathogens, such as the "worms" that occasionally afflict networks, and the "Trojan horses" that put a friendly face on malicious programs, but viruses are the most common computer ill by far. Types of viruses. There are different types of viruses, and they have already been separated into classes and categories. For instance: dangerous, harmless, and very dangerous. No destruction means a harmless one, tricks with system halts means a dangerous one, and finally with a devastating destruction means a very dangerous virus. But viruses are famous not only for their destructive actions, but also for their special effects, which are almost impossible to classify. Some virus-writers suggest the following: funny, very funny and sad or melancholy (keeps silence and infects). But one should remember that special effects must occur only after a certain number of contaminations. Users should also be given a chance to restrict execution of destructive actions, such as deleting files, formatting hard disks. Thereby virus can be considered to be a useful program, keeping a check on system changes and preventing any surprises such as of deletion of files or wiping out hard disks. Computer viruses can trace their pedigree to John Von Neumann's studies of self-replicating mathematical automata in the 1940s. Although the idea of programs that could infect computers dates to the 1970s, the first well-documented case of a computer virus spreading "in the wild" occurred in October 1987, when a code known as the "Brain" virus appeared on several diskettes at the University of Delaware.

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