Doula Daisy

Don Hankins / Foter

Computer virus is an executable program written with the intention of causing a wreck to your computer or network, and because viruses are programs, they are loaded into computer memory, executed and instruct the computer to perform the actions dictated by the virus. Virus is the worst of malwares that causes serious havoc to your computer system. A virus is self-replicating and affects computer hardware, software, and even the Operating System. Computer viruses can be contracted through opening e-mail attachments containing viruses, downloading infected programs from the internet (usually free programs), or from removable storage devices such as floppies, USB drives, etc.

Today there are many different names that are used to describe a computer virus. The names that are used to describe these various viruses include Macro Viruses, Email Viruses and Trojan Horses. Of course, each of these different viruses has a slightly different description but they all act in very similar ways. Each of these viruses is able to spread through your computer, internet, local computer networks, and removable storage devices and infect its files and documents. There are millions of worms, Trojan Horses and viruses that your PC has to defend itself against, on a daily basis. Not all viruses have had their claim to fame, most are killed before they can even cause any damage, but a few have been able to sneak through the cracks. The Love Letter virus was possibly the fastest virus known to date. It simply attacked Outlook, and using the user’s mailing list, e-mailed itself to the recipients as a message, with an attachment holding the virus. The Love Letter caused $5.5 billion worth of damage.

Some common symptoms of a computer who’s been compromised by malicious programs are system operations slows down greatly, hard disk seems to be full even after files have been deleted, computer will not boot and files are corrupted, systems crashes and many more.

Viruses are classified on the basic of their mode of existence and there are three categories of viruses. There are boot infector, system infector, and general executable program infector. Boot infector is characterized by the fact that they are physically resided in the boot sector [0] sector of the disk. A system infected by such a virus will have the virus residing in a particular area of the disk rather then in a program file. The second category of virus deals with components of the system itself. All machines without execution require an operating system in order to create an environment in which the operator works. System infectors attach themselves to a file such as COMMAND or other memory resident files and manipulate these files. The third category is most dangerous and devastating of the three classes of viruses. They attach themselves to program files and can spread to almost any executable program in any system. As a result, whenever the program is executed, the virus gets loaded and executedfirst and then allows the original program to process. It remains memory resident and infects each and every program that is loaded for execution.

There are various ways to recover the data from most viruses. Experts use a combination of systems to recover data. It is best to rely on data recovery specialists than attempt to do it yourself. Protect yourself by backing up your computer regularly so that in case there is an infection you can restore your system from the back up. It is also important you have very reliable anti-virus software on your machine.

Every computer needs a good antivirus software. There are all sorts of different kinds of virus-type things traveling around in cyber space and require the protection of an anti virus tool. Examples include worms, spiders, spyware, and adware. They have a variety of effects ranging from pure destruction to actually taking sensitive information off of a computer’s hard drive. There are thousands of different viruses that your computer can be exposed to and without anti-virus software you are bound to get a virus on your computer at some point. In fact, without anti-virus software, you computer is a major crash just waiting to happen and such crashes can be quite costly in the end.

There has been a new revolution of security (anti virus) software in response to this new demand for online security. The software generally offers both treatment and prevention of computer viral infections. There is usually a scanning feature offered that is able to detect old infestations and to either quarantine them or sometimes it can actually repair the damage.

Viruses can be caught on your computer when you open emails, when you download documents or just by visiting various websites. National Cyber Security Alliance in 2005 online safety study has reported that 81% of computer home users lack basic protection. This study shows that most people still don’t know about PC protection and even though some of them know about it, they don’t know where to find good software to protect their system.

There are a number of companies that provide software solutions to virus, Trojan, and internet worm attacks. There are several very important things that you need to consider when choosing antivirus software. Here are some of them. As soon as a new threat is found the virus definitions must be updated and automatically by the software. You can configure the software to check for updates every time you go online. The anti virus software can scan incoming and outgoing email automatically. You can configure it once to perform automatic scans of your entire computer on a regular schedule. And upgrades to the software package performed automatically, regularly, and at no cost.

OndraSoukup / Foter

Adware is defined as an application, made by publishers, that is able to use advertisement such as banners, pop-ups windows, and ads that are shown while you download or install a certain program. Once Adware gets in, it is very difficult to it out. I’ve gotten rid of a computer over deeply imbedded Adware before I learned how to eradicate it. Adware is installed with a software application, usually shareware or freeware, but is only installed with the user’s permission. If you have installed any freeware or shareware recently you will have accepted the End User Agreement, which may have told you that third-party software was included and therein lays the problem.

The aim of adware is to display a range of adverts that are targeted to a given internet user. The program would begin monitoring the internet sites that the user visits and or searches for to build an impression of the user’s interests. This then leads to the display of web-based adverts that is determined to be most appropriate to the user, in the hope that the user would click on the advert and either place their details for further information or even make an order or purchase the product or service associated with that advert.

In terms of a security risk, adware is minimal and poses very little risk to the computer. Most of these programs are harmless unless it contains ‘spyware’ which is also referred as privacy-invasive software. Spyware can collect information on users personal information by detecting your internet surfing habits, sites that you may have visited or even redirect you to websites that cause many unwanted viruses. However, a degree of nuisance can be experienced by the user, the extent of which is subject to the individual concerned. Studies have shown that nearly 90% of computers have some kind of adware installed on their hard drive. Many people are not aware of the fact their computer has adware. Others are aware but unfortunately do not have an effective enough adware cleaner to remove all traces of it. There is a lot you need to know before acquiring an adware cleaner and I will help you choose the best one for you. All these Adware types have proved us that we are very vulnerable to an attack from any program, download or action.

Knowledge is the most important thing when dealing with online threats so you can learn how you can prevent it from infecting your system. There are several companies inventing new adware products to protect our information and stop hackers from invading our privacy. I myself have tried several of those adware programs and I found some of the best ones out there. I have been using this program for about a year now and I haven’t had any problem on my computer yet. In Conclusion, adware has become a major headache in computer technology and I highly recommend using top notch software to stop it.

Robbert van der Steeg / Foter

Spyware is a type of malware that is different from the computer virus in terms of construction and activities. Spywares do not replicate itself or infect other computers that come into contact with an infected computer. It is software that will send your private and sensitive information to the cyber criminals and you will have lots of problems and your computer will show many abnormal behaviors. You get strange popup that have nothing to do with the page you have accessed, or you get a different home page, and you did nothing to change it. Other threats are more subtle, but they are the most dangerous of all. Spyware can be used to track your personal information.

The reason why they install spyware is that free software is the best way that software companies can infect your machine with spyware. They are the number one cause of spyware because so many people install them on their machines, without even thinking that they could be harmful. Spywares are spread through the freeware and shareware programs that seem to be harmless apparently and when these host programs are installed by the user, the spyware also get installed. In that way the user are not even aware of the spywares as the anti virus software are not capable of spyware detection.

Symptoms may indicate that the computer system of the user has infected itself with spyware are the user gets endless pop up windows. Some new and unexpected toolbars appear in the Web browser and unexpected icons come about in the task tray below the screen. The home page of the browser suddenly changes and other websites open than the one that the user had typed in the browser. Random windows error messages appear. And while opening programs or processing tasks, the computer appears slow. Do not click on links within the pop up windows. Since, pop up windows often are a spyware product, clicking on it can install the spyware software on the computer system.

Try to avoid as many of the free programs and file sharing as you can. Remain wary of free downloadable software. There are plenty of sites, which offer features such as customized toolbars. They have a massive appeal amongst the users. Never download programs from those sites, which you never trust. Certainly don’t try downloading anything new until you have a spyware removal utility installed and running. They will detect any new types of spyware as well as remove the ones already on your machine. Firewall is also very important in protecting your computer. Firewall can filter your ingoing and outgoing traffic and therefore, it’s an essential tool to have in order to protect your system from any threats.

Infiltration of technology in our communities has, by and large, proved to be beneficial. But like every other good thing, technology too can be exploited. This exploitation, among other things, has resulted in certain crimes being committed through or against computers, their affiliated networks and the information contained within them. Thus, came about the neologism of cyber crime. The concept of cyber crime is not radically different from that of conventional crime. Both include conduct whether act or omission, which cause breach of rules of law

As times changed, so did the nature of the cyber crime. More technological advances and cheaper access to hardware and software meant that the Internet became a domain anyone could access. More sinister fraud came to the attention of the authorities. With the escalation of the criminal element of the cyber crime, new laws were needed and specialist criminal defense lawyers were required. Furthermore, efficient law enforcement is further complicated by the transnational nature of cyberspace.

If you or someone in your family has been a victim of a cyber crime, whether the crime involves identity theft, fraud, online solicitation, or stalking, you may be unsure of what to do next. The FBI, in partnership with the National White Collar Crime Center, has helped establish an online source of help, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (ICCC), where internet users can file complaints for any type of online crime. After each complaint is reviewed and evaluated, the organization refers it to the law enforcement or regulatory agency that has appropriate jurisdiction. The site logs about 18,000 complaints each month.

ICCC accepts online Internet crime complaints from either the person who believes they were defrauded or from a third party to the complainant can best be processed if accurate and complete information accompanies the complaint. All you need to do is provide some needed information when filing a complaint at website: http://www.ic3.gov/complaint. A specific report of the incident is also required; along with any other relevant information you believe is necessary to support your complaint.

According to the ICCC, internet crime is defined as “any illegal activity involving one or more components of the Internet, such as websites, chat rooms, and/or email. Internet crime involves the use of the Internet to communicate false or fraudulent representations to consumers”.

In addition to partnering with law enforcement and regulatory agencies, it will remain a priority objective of the IC3 to establish effective alliances with industry. These alliances will enable the IC3 to leverage both the intelligence and subject matter required in identifying and crafting an aggressive, proactive approach to combating cyber crime.