Before we can comprehend how a computer virus works, it is important to realize what a virus does when it attacks the human body.
A small organism, a virus is only able to reproduce itself within another living cell or body.
Poor health occurs as a result of a viral infection and body cells are destroyed or damaged as a result.
Able to reproduce itself within another cell or body, the word virus is Latin for ‘poison’ and that is basically what it is – a ‘poison’, an example of an illness caused by a virus is the common cold.
How does this relate to computers?
Usually the computer virus is hidden within a program, file or document which means it can be anywhere on your pc.
Why Create A Computer Virus?
There are some clever individuals who have nothing worthwhile to do with their time that create and spread these computer viruses.
Causing havoc is the main reason for doing this. Similar to a common virus like the flu (which spreads from person to person), the computer virus has the ability to spread and ‘infect’ other computers, files or documents.
What Damage Can A Computer Virus Do?
The computer can be prevented from working correctly by a computer virus. As well as through the Internet and through local computer networks, it can multiply through removable storage devices such as memory sticks and floppy disks.
Because most computer viruses are hidden, they become very hard to detect and remove and it can be spread to other computers, unknowingly, by the computer user.
It works in a similar way to human viruses (like influenza) by making a person unwell.
The amount of damage caused by a ‘digital virus’ is dependent upon what it has been instructed to do. What we mean by this is that every computer virus that is created has a specific role whether it is to trigger some event on your computer in the distant future very much like a Trojan does, or simply be something that has been created to be destructive as possible once it has infected your computer.
Make sure you are protected from any computer virus online at all times with a suitable antivirus program.
About Ron
Information security threats are an on-going issue, both for professional organisations and individuals at home. This is a great article – it puts together the key points in accessible terms.