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A computer virus is nothing but a computer program which gets copying itself and spread to another computer. It piggybacks on real programs. Each and every time the program runs, the virus will also be activated. It will also multiply by attaching to some other programs and would create a disaster. Without the knowledge of the user, it would infect the system and corrupt the files. It gets spread from one computer to another when a file from the infected computer is carried through a removable medium such as CD, USB drive and a floppy disk to another computer. It also spreads through a network file system.
Viruses also spread through e-mail messages. They will get into the email message to a large number of people by automatically mailing themselves. It replicates itself to cause havoc. Sometimes, the internet users would get a display like ‘Congratulation, you have won an exciting cash prize’ or any other attractive messages which could prompt the viewers to open immediately. As they open, the virus will enter immediately and the whole system would get crashed.
Another common electronic infection is the Trojan horse. Though it may not replicate automatically, it has the capacity to erase the hard disk. Worms are another type of infection, which use computer networks and the security holes to reproduce. A copy of the worm will look for the same security hole in the network and will replicate itself to the new machine through the specific security hole.
Viruses are created with the intention to damage the computer as they damage the programs, delete files or reformat the hard disk. Some viruses are not engineered to damage but they simply replicate and will make their presence to be known by every one by displaying text, video or audio messages. Though they may not create any problem, they will take up the memory of the computer and can cause erratic behaviour. In the later stages the system will get crashed. Many viruses are roaming across the internet sites and every day one new virus is being discovered.
Melissa Virus was one of the harmful viruses which forced Microsoft and other very large companies to stay away from the email systems until the virus was rectified.
In the year 2004, Mydoom worm infected around a quarter million computers, that too within a day.
Now the million dollar question is how and why viruses are being created? Of course, they are created by the computer users deliberately to cause ill effects to other computer users. They can do what the programmers have programmed them to do.
Some people get thrill out of it. We have come cross many cases such as people breaking the windows of someone or burning the vehicles or things like these to satisfy their idiotic desires, through which they will get some sort of pleasure which is nothing but an outcome of a psychological disorder, or they might have the same psychology of the vandals and firebugs. Some persons will also get fun to watch things blowing up.
Besides, they are causing damage to the people and wasting thousands of hours of the users. Getting rid of the viruses is not an easy task which involves a lot of mental agony. The legal system is also very much harsh on the people who commit nuisances like these. It is not advisable to continue using the computer which is infected by a virus. The operating system of it has to be completely reinstalled and recovery options have to be adopted based on the severity of the viruses. After that the damaged or corrupted data can be recovered. Data recovery is nothing but the process of retrieving the data which cannot be accessed normally. Though many people use computers, they are not aware of what to do at the time of a computer breakdown. The data recovery process will be based on the type of attack as to whether it is solvable or permanently lost, which could be analysed only by a data recovery specialist. Many computer experts who are specialised in data recovery are there, who can recover our data. When virus infection is noticed, data recovery services should be availed.
