V is for Virus — Not Corona but Computer!

The same confusion about what to choose for V – Virus or Vishing? But then I thought it is better to concentrate on one and to take up the other for some other time.

Your computer is infected with a virus, kindly quarantine it.

So, here I am with what is that Virus on your computer.

What is a virus?

The virus is a malicious program that is generally attached to a legitimate or harmless program. When the program runs, the virus gets executed and performs activities that harm infected machines and their data.

A computer virus just like a biological virus can copy itself and spread to other files.

Now that we know about what a virus is, let’s look at the types.

Types of Viruses

Image source: https://staysafeonline.org/blog/how-to-tell-if-your-computer-has-a-virus-what-to-do-about-it/

As per the experts, currently, three types of viruses have been identified and they are –

1. Macro viruses: As the name suggests are the largest of the three and use built-in scripts of the programs to automate the tasks. These programming scripts are usually found in Word or Excel. When you, unaware of the virus’ presence, open the infected document, it spreads to other files by copying itself.
2. Boot record infectors: Boot record viruses or boot sector viruses usually attack the system’s master boot record aka MBR. In other words, they attack the programs that are found on your hard disks and from there on move on to the main memory when you restart your computer. You can detect the presence of the virus when your computer faces boot-up problems, poor system performance, and it becomes difficult to locate the hard disk. The present-day computers come equipped with boot sector/record safeguards to restrict the potential of the virus.
3. File infectors: As the name suggests file infectors infect the files on your system. When you open any file, the virus overwrites those files and then starts spreading onto other files on the system and networks. The virus usually affects files with .com and .exe extensions. Reputable antivirus and downloading only software from their official website can help prevent this virus infection.