Computer Viruses & A-V Protection

Anti-virus protection is none other than a program to protect your computer against the many viruses and hoaxes in the Internet world. It is important to have an anti-virus protection program. However, some may think it is highly important while others may have an opposing opinion. People who use their computers for many different reasons, whether it is work, school, research, or leisure, without realizing it they depend a great deal on the information and programs that is saved on their computers. These are the people that would want to have an anti-virus protection program because it will save information in the case of a virus entering into the system. For those that may use it for merely haphazard reasons, they may not be as interested in having a program that protects against viruses. Nonetheless, an anti-virus program will help in protecting the system against harm.

Before we can define anti-virus protection we must first look at the virus itself. Simply stating, a virus is merely a reproduction application. Its only goal is to spread itself as far and wide as it can possible go. Not only is it there to enter into the system but there is sometimes also a payload that comes with it. A payload is the effect produced by a virus attack. This is the part that can either erase everything on your hard drive or simply play a clip of a song.

Viruses come in many forms. They can be found on a floppy disk, appended themselves to other programs, or in emails. However, with the latest technology, viruses are now being more detected and prevented. With automated virus scanning tools, viruses that have affixed themselves onto programs are now being exposed.

McAfee defines anti-virus software as a program that scans a computer's memory and disk drives for viruses. If the program finds a virus, the application informs the user and may clean, delete or quarantine any files, directories or disks affected by the malicious code.

Automated virus scanning tools are anti-virus protectors. They are there to identify the virus before it can do any damage to a computer’s hard drive. With this in mind there are many different types of anti-virus protection software.

There are many different types of anti-virus protection that can be bought. All have their guarantee that it will catch the virus or hoax that could appear into your computer. Here is a list of the some of the products that are on the market today.

· AntiVirus expert P2P Protection ICQ 1.1 – “This is a small anti-virus scanner that monitors, filters, intercepts and scans incoming file transfers.”

· F-Secure Anti-Virus for WorkStations 5.30 – “A comprehensive realtime and on-demand virus scanner and protection system for all Windows platforms.”

· Panda Global Virus Insurance 2.12.03 – “This program provides protection and management of all possible virus entry points.”

· McAfee Virus Scan 6.01 – “McAfee’s Virus Scan includes a commandline, DOS protection system, a background scanner, an on-demand scanner.”

· Quick Heal 6.0.3 – This anti-virus software has a new tracing system that will catch the next generation of viruses.”

· Norton AntiVirus 2001 7.0.7.23D – “This is one of the most well-known virus scanners on the market today.”

All of these programs were given five cows by www.tucows.com. They were among several other great programs that were ranked high on tucow’s site.

All these products have one thing in common and that is to detect viruses. However, “most of the protection provided by the product is static: that is, the philosophy behind the product is to detect and (sometimes) remove viruses that are already known to the creators of the anti-virus product.” Meaning, sometimes these products won’t be able to detect viruses that are new and have just been developed. The programmers that have made the protection are basing their programs on previous, already discovered viruses.

Programmers realize that there may be a problem with this sort of programming and that when they develop the software, they are not protecting against the unknown virus. So to counteract the unknown, they add “unknown” virus detection to their products. Programmers know that by adding this “unknown” virus detection that their software may still not be a 100% effective. Nothing is more effective than developing a program against known viruses versus unknown viruses.

Many people use anti-virus protection. Often people use their computers for home use, office use, or school use. With just one family using their computer for all these places, there has to be viable information just on one computer. Although, anti-virus protectors are not 100% effective, imagine losing any information that is saved onto your hard drive. Even if the virus targeted one type of file and it only deleted that one file, but that one file is what you needed for a presentation the next day, how would this make you feel? If you had the protection on your computer then this possibly could have been prevented.

Corporations and big businesses often invest their money into an anti-virus protection program. With all the paper work that goes into running a business, if a virus were to enter the system and ruin all the files, the company would have no collection of that data that was destroyed.

Another place that spends money into protecting their computers are schools. Schools often have a multitude of computers in their buildings, with all the computers and all the students using them, they are put at a high risk of being infected. By using a protection system, they will prevent their computers from being infected and will in turn save money by not having to buy new computers all the time.

After reading this information about anti-virus protection, the most important thing to remember is that having an anti-virus protector on your computer is a smart and cost efficient thing to have. To spend a bit of money and put a protector in, will save you the money from buying a computer because a person designed a virus to erase everything on your hard drive.

If you already have an anti-virus protector on your computer, consider looking into other programs. While there are many out there, they are not the same. There maybe some that is more fit for your use. Also, look for updates as well. Remember, most virus protectors are only detecting those viruses that are known. The unknown ones are not going to be detected by the virus protector, unless the programmer has specifically placed the “unknown” virus detector into the product. So, remember when reviewing your options, there are many types out there.

When discussing, the “unknown” virus, we are discussing the virus of the next generation. Being able to detect viruses is a great and evolving idea. However, people have to keep in mind that there are those viruses that some protectors cannot identify. This is the major problem with anti-virus protection. How can we prevent against something we don’t know exists?

This can be somewhat misleading to consumers. When a person goes into a store and inquires about a product to protect their computer, they purchase the product with the belief that it will protect against all the viruses that may enter into the system. They are unaware of the “unknown” viruses that their program does not protect against.

Other problems that may occur are that while viruses are becoming known, the virus protectors that we have become outdated. There is no real solution to this problem because as soon as a virus becomes known, there is someone out in the industry producing the latest protection product. We can never be on top of the situation; it will always be ahead of us. For every new virus found there will be a newer protection product to prevent that virus.

Related Links

Computer Viruses

Overview

Since the early 70s, computer viruses have been a major concern for many, if not all, computer users. Thousands of computer viruses have been created and maliciously implanted in computer systems and e-mail servers all over the world. Some have the unique ability to replicate and even mutate faster than biological virus. However, some people have an unwarranted fear of computer viruses. A contributing factor to the strength of viruses is our partial ignorance of their structure, effects and ways of early detection and prevention.

This report covers some basic definitions and types of viruses that have been created . Examples of common viruses help illustrate how viruses are made and their operating principles. The following sections are about detecting viruses and being prepared to protect your files from computer viruses. The final section discusses ways of recovery and some tips on making your computer virus-free.

Computer Viruses Defined

A computer virus is a set of computer instructions or programs that are designed to infect certain types of files or programs. Some of them are timed and the effects only show when certain conditions are met. For example some viruses only attack programs or files with certain extensions such as .exe or .doc. The virus activates as the computer loads it into memory and where it performs replication tasks. The effects of viruses range from displaying weird graphics and peculiar noises to loss of vast amounts of data and resources. . A program infected by a virus is called a host program. In many cases, a virus is dormant until the host program is executed. E-mail viruses are not activated until the host e-mail is opened and some of them may still remain dormant until sent to other people or downloaded to the file with the corresponding or matching extensions. Computer viruses are written in the same code used to write beneficial programs such as Java and C++.

Types of Viruses

Viruses are classified by the programs they infect and the effects they have on host files. There are several classifications for computer viruses. This is list of some of the types of computer viruses

·.Program or file infectors

These are viruses that attach themselves to common .exe, and .dos files. They are activated each time the host file is opened.

·.Boot Infectors, also known as system infectors

Some consider this type of virus more destructive because it affects boots of each drive and alters the order in which certain programs are executed and opened. A boot infector replaces the boot sector on the hard disk and changes the way your computer starts fundamentally.

·.Macro Viruses

These are programs that attach themselves to application programs such as Microsoft files and are activated every time any of these files is opened. It is also the most common type, over 3/4 of all viruses are MS Word macro viruses.

·.Multipartite viruses

Viruses that are able to infect program files and the boot sector are called multipartite viruses. (www.howstuffworks.com)

This is not an exhaustive list of all classifications for viruses. It lists important major categories smaller sub-categories may fall under.

Another way of classifying viruses depends on how the virus attacks the designated file.

·.Memory resident

This type of virus resides in the memory and remains dormant until the program is executed. Then, it starts to replicate itself into boot sectors. It is also considered the most common type of virus.

·.Non- resident

The effects of the virus are limited to the time the host program is opened.

·.Stealth ( also known as smart viruses for their ability to hide from anti-virus programs scan functions). However, they have to be active before they can mask their existence from anti-virus software. In other words, the host file must be executed first. Other common types that also hide themselves are encryption (revealing code is encrypted) and polymorphic (mutates to hide its revealing code)

·.Triggered event- A virus set to activate when certain conditions are met. For example, a virus sent a week before Valentine’s Day would only be activated on the 14th of February.

Brief History of Viruses

The first viruses were known as rabbits ( www.vmyths.com). They simply replicated in memory and took over space to slow down computing speed. The next version was called the worm and it replicated itself and reproduced segments of itself over all or some of the portions of infected files which greatly altered the file characteristics. The first true virus was created in 1980 as an experiment for the Apple II computer, where versions of a poem were printed with serial numbers to indicate the speed of replication. Viruses continue to be created to this day but there are legal ramifications that limit the spread of such programs. We can also help by developing a greater understanding for how they work and the effects they have to help in early detection and prevention.

After we have become familiar with types and structures of viruses, there are ways that we can prevent viruses from infecting our computers. If some files have already been infected there are ways to recover and protect other files that will be discussed in this section.

Social Ramifications and Issues

Safeguarding Your Computer

·.The worst outcome of a virus infection is the loss of data and program files. Always back up your system and all the files on your hard disk and diskettes.

·.Use an anti-virus software and update it regularly.

·.Early detection can save you a lot of time and effort recovering lost files and preventing the virus from replicating.

·.If you download and open attachments frequently, try using a read-only diskette that will prevent infected files from spreading and contaminating the entire system. Most floppy disk will have the option to convert to a write-only by lifting a small plastic button located at the lower left corner.

Ways of Detection

Personal observation is an important part of early detection. Any unexplained messages, changes in file sizes, running out of disk space when you are certain you have plenty and screen distortion are some of the signs that may indicate a contaminated file.

Recovery

It is important to understand that while many anti-virus software programs detect and may clean up contaminated files, full recovery sometimes requires more complicated steps. An immediate response, if the virus is inactive, would be to shut down your computer after removing the infected file.Then, reboot your computer using a clean diskette. ( “Protecting your computer from viruses”,www.washington.edu/computing/virus.html#IF)

Conclusion

The main areas of focus when it comes to viruses are education, preparation, prevention, detection, and recovery. All of these components are useful. Education is the awareness of what to do and where to get help. Preparation involves a backup system and the creation and storage of clean system disks. Prevention includes ways to limit your computers susceptibility to viruses. Detection deals with how to find a virus that has infected your computer. Finally, recovery is the process of repair and rescue of damaged data. Computer viruses like biological ones, can be dangerous if ignored or treated incorrectly, but through proper understanding and the use of correct procedures, they can be controlled.

Related Links

An Overview of Computer Viruses and Anti-virus Software A great resource for all information about anti-virus strategies and examples of software packages. It also has a very helpful glossary and a list of other helpful links

http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/virus32.html#strategy

Understanding computer Viruses

An illustrative report on computer viruses and the basic concepts related.

http://www.unl.edu/security/viruses/index.htm#virus_writers

Personal Computer Viruses: Frequently Asked questions

http://www.ucop.edu/pccenter/virus.html

Protecting your pc and Media against computer viruses

A comprehensive list of ways of prevention and a list of other sources and

links on computer viruses.

http://www.utoronto.ca/security/virus.htm

TJU Computer Virus Information Page

Explains the distinctions between computer viruses, worms, and Trojan Horse.

http://www.tju.edu/tju/dis/virus/

Description of computer viruses

The Official Microsoft product support services response and summary on frequently asked questions about viruses.

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q129/9/72.ASP

How Computer Viruses work

http://www.howstuffworks.com/first-time.htm?referer=virus.htm