What other computer viruses are there besides Malware?

Question

What other computer viruses are there besides Malware?

Answer 1

2

Answer 2

ALL infecting programs re called malware, which means anything deliberately destructive. This comprises virus and spyware infections. A virus is something that replicates itself, often by email. So someone attaches it to an email and sends it to multiple known email addresses. Any of the machines which it manages to infect will then either read all email addresses stored in the machine and send a copy of itself to everyone listed, or attach itself to any email legitimately sent from that machine or both. This way it multiplies. Most plain viruses get caught by anti-virus software provided it is updated regularly. More difficult is spyware. This generally tries to gain access to personal information. It is often wrapped into software on a web site, and anyone downloading that software becomes infected. These often cause the machine to re-direct to other we sites, from where it can introduce other infections. Some of it acts similar to a virus, reading and even sending out email address lists to the originator. These are sold on. Some try to put you on dummy copies of sites you want (banking etc) and your sign in then gives all your details to the originator before diverting you to the correct page, where it will ask you to login again. This is always a warning sign, logging in apparently twice to the same site. Others (keyloggers) tr to read every keystroke you make. If they recognise a user name or email / password combination they send details of the site and what you typed to the originator. ANY site can be infected if a hacker gets in to it. Any site offering illegal downloads, and a few offering legitimate downloads are a serious risk. These are often totally unconcerned about the material posted for download. So anyone posting can easily build an infection into the download (of ANY kind). Also fan sites (football club, music band) are often run by the fans generally. People get themselves into the contributors list, and use this to infect the sites. You can never tell, so always keep a good fully updated anti-spyware/virus running. Only one, more and they each think the other is attacking the machine and lock each other. This reduces security by up to 60%. I always add the free scanner from http://malwarebytes on all my customer's machines. It does nothing normally, but is available to update and run a scan if you see the machine slowing down, re-directing unusually or you have any doubts otherwise. Even if you have to run it in safe mode with networking to do so. Always keep four firewall fully on, and keep all Microsoft security settings at default. NEVER turn off the annoying Vista/7 User Access Control, it is a serious security defence. Never click anything on a site you do not know. Allow any browser based site scanners (AVG link scanner, Firefox known bad site blocking etc) And be VERY careful before accepting anything from the Internet. Always READ any messages that ask for confirmation.

Answer 3

Spyware. Duh..

Answer 4

From research it and blogs unknown , there are new malware and viruses seems like everyday just keep your anti-virus and anti- spyware updated and run scans everyweek or two weeks,malware can hit right now while i write this answer from a unknown source.

Answer 5

troyan

Answer 6

Resident Viruses type virus is a permanent which dwells in the RAM. From there it can overcome and interrupt all of the operations executed by the system: corrupting files and programs that are opened, closed, copied, renamed etc.



Examples : Randex, CMJ, Meve, and MrKlunky.



Direct Action Viruses

The main purpose of this virus is to replicate and take action when it is executed. When a specific condition is met, the virus will go into action and infect files in the directory or folder that it is in and in directories that are specified in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file PATH. This batch file is always located in the root directory of the hard disk and carries out certain operations when the computer is booted.



Overwrite Viruses

Virus of this kind is characterized by the fact that it deletes the information contained in the files that it infects, rendering them partially or totally useless once they have been infected.



The only way to clean a file infected by an overwrite virus is to delete the file completely, thus losing the original content.



Examples: Way, Trj.Reboot, Trivial.88.D.



Boot Virus

virus affects the boot sector / floppy / hard disk. This is a crucial part of a disk, in which information on the disk itself is stored together with a program that makes it possible to boot (start) the computer from the disk.

Examples include: Polyboot.B, AntiEXE.



Macro Virus infect files that are created using certain applications or programs that contain These mini-programs make it possible to automate series of operations so that they are performed as a single action, thereby saving the user from having to carry them out one by one.



Examples Relax, Melissa.A, Bablas, O97M/Y2K.





Directory viruses change paths that indicate the location of a file. By executing a program (file with the extension .EXE or .COM) which has been infected by a virus, you are unknowingly running the virus program, while the original file and program have been previously moved by the virus.



Once infected it becomes impossible to locate the original files.



Polymorphic viruses encrypt or encode themselves in a different way (using different algorithms and encryption keys) every time they infect a system.



This makes it impossible for anti-viruses to find them using string or signature searches (because they are different in each encryption) and also enables them to create a large number of copies of themselves.



Examples Elkern, Marburg, Satan Bug, and Tuareg.



File Infectors

This type of virus infects programs or executable files (files with an .EXE or .COM extension). When one of these programs is run, directly or indirectly, the virus is activated, producing the damaging effects it is programmed to carry out. The majority of existing viruses belong to this category, and can be classified depending on the actions that they carry out.





Companion viruses can be considered file infector viruses like resident or direct action types. They are known as companion viruses because once they get into the system they "accompany" the other files that already exist. In other words, in order to carry out their infection routines, companion viruses can wait in memory until a program is run (resident viruses) or act immediately by making copies of themselves (direct action viruses).



Stator, Asimov.1539, and Terrax.1069





Worms

A worm is a program very similar to a virus; it has the ability to self-replicate, and can lead to negative effects on your system and most importantly they are detected and eliminated by antiviruses.



Examples: PSWBugbear.B, Lovgate.F, Trile.C, Sobig.D, Mapson.





Another unsavory breed of malicious code are Trojans or Trojan horses, which unlike viruses do not reproduce by infecting other files, nor do they self-replicate like worms.



Logic Bombs

They are not considered viruses because they do not replicate. They are not even programs in their own right but rather camouflaged segments of other programs.



The objective is to destroy data on the computer once certain conditions have been met. Logic bombs go undetected until launched, and the results can be destructive.





List of Computer Viruses and Worms



* Code Red

* Nimda

* Blaster

* Creeper

* SQL Slammer

* Elk Cloner

* Jerusalem

* Melissa

* Barrotes

* The Morris Internet Worm

* Almost daily, hundreds of viruses and worms are made and sent out in this vast world of the world wide web. So the best way to make your computer safe from different types of viruses is to install the best antivirus program and keep updating it regularly.