The first known virus to appear in the wild was "Elk Cloner" in 1981, written as a joke for the popular Apple II computer of the time. Since there were no "cures" for it though, removal was difficult. The first widespread infection for the IBM PC was "(c)Brain" in 1986 by shareware developers in Pakistan, and was intended as a digital rights management scheme that went horribly wrong, destroying many hard drives, requiring complete reformatting and reinstalls (like "Popureb" just last week) and putting the developers out of business
History
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These days there are so many different types of virus. So what is a virus? A virus is usually hidden, and can do a number of things, as it relates to the health of the computer. A few examples are provided below:
Make a computer run slowly
owner's knowledge
Send out unauthorized messages
They can be spread between computers, and can also be transported via email. It is not limited to software however, as they can also be transported via USB drives and other types of media.
One of the most common reasons for failures or problems in computers is the lack of
antivirus software, or expired antivirus software. It is an issue which is often overlooked
and has dire consequences for the unfortunate computer owner.
Computer viruses are usually malicious computer programs written in order to damage
other people's machines or steal information or even cash. They are usually highly skilled
programmers who have decided to use their skills in a negative manner. Some viruses are
written as an "ego" boost. In other words, some programmers write these things just to
prove that they can hack into a major site or obtain private information. However, there
are also criminal programmers who have a much more devious intention
Where Does a Computer Viruses' Come From?
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Sometimes the definition of what constitutes a virus is not clearly defined. In general a
virus almost always damages files on a computer. Some other types of malicious software
such as spyware are used to steal information from the user but may not damage the
computer.
Types of virus include:
What Types of Virus Are There?
Worms: These are programs which copy themselves to other computers on a
network. They tend to slow things down as they consume more and more
bandwidth or computer resources.
Trojans: Performs functions (sometimes malicious) on the computer without the
knowledge of the user (Think of the horse of Troy)
Malware: Technically, this is not classed as a virus. It is software used to spy on
computer user's activities and collect personal information. More commonly
known as "spyware".
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Antivirus software is the "policeman" at the gate of a computer system. It protects the
computer from incoming threats and seeks out, destroys and warns of possible threats to
the system. New viruses are coming out all the time. It is the job of the antivirus software
to keep up with the latest threats. This is achieved by daily updates of the antivirus
database definitions, which counteract the latest threats to provide constant protection.
Not having anti virus on a computer is like inviting a criminal into the home or having an
uninvited guest! They then cause havoc or steal from the owner. Today's internet has
provided many ways for virus attacks and there are thousands of threats. To be safe from
these it is vital to police the computer and have it protected at all times. The Importance
of Antivirus Software cannot be underestimated.
