Window Viruses
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Viruses
- A virus is a small piece of software that
piggybacks on real programs. For example, a virus might
attach itself to a program such as a spreadsheet program.
Each time the spreadsheet program runs, the virus runs, too,
and it has the chance to reproduce (by attaching to other
programs) or wreak havoc.
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E-mail viruses
- An e-mail virus travels as an attachment to
e-mail messages,
and usually replicates itself by automatically mailing
itself to dozens of people in the victim's e-mail address
book. Some e-mail viruses don't even require a double-click
-- they launch when you view the infected message in the
preview pane of your e-mail software.
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Trojan
horses
- A Trojan horse is simply a computer program. The
program claims to do one thing (it may claim to be a game)
but instead does damage when you run it (it may erase your
hard disk).
Trojan horses have no way to replicate automatically.
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Worms
- A worm is a program or
algorithm that replicates itself. A worm has the capability
to travel without any help from a person from PC to PC and
have ability to replicate itself on your system, so rather
than your computer sending out a single worm, it could send
out hundreds or thousands of copies of itself, creating a
huge devastating effect.
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