a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user.

can only spread from one computer to another when its host is taken to the uninfected computer, for instance by a user sending it over a network or the Internet, or by carrying it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, or USB drive.

is a program designed to spread itself by first infecting executable files or the system areas of hard and floppy disks and then making copies of itself. Viruses usually operate without the knowledge or desire of the computer user. Some viruses wait until certain dates are reached; others remain silent in the system until a particular afflicted program is activated.

There are four main types of viruses. a) Shell Shell viruses wrap themselves around a host program and don't modify the original program Shell programs are easy to writewhich is why about half of viruses are of this type b) Intrusive Intrusive viruses Invade an existing program and actually insert a portion of themselves into the host programIntrusive viruses are hard to write and very difficult to remove without damaging the host file.

c) operating system Operating system viruses work by replacing parts of the operating system with their own logic. It is very difficult to write operating system viruses and these viruses have the ability once booted up to take total control of your System. FOF example some operating system viruses have hidden large amounts of attack logic in falsely marked bad disk sectors d) source code Source code viruses are intrusive programs and they are also inserted into a source program such as those written in Pascal prior to the program being compliedThere are the leastcommon viruses because they are not only hard to writebut also have a limited number of hosts compared to the other types

THE DANGERS OF DOWNLOADING

One type of malicious program waits to catch people logging on and then transmits their details to another computer. Unlike viruses, Trojans do not reproduce by infecting other programs or files, nor do they selfreplicate like worms. Trojans are computer programs that appear to be harmless, but in fact contain malicious code. When a Trojan is executed, it can delete your files and compromise the security of your computer. Trojans spread when people are lured into opening an e-mail attachment or downloading and running a file from the Internet because they think it comes from a legitimate source.

WEB PAGE DANGERS

Besides being able to execute programs, Web pages also contain Forms. Unless the Web browser is using a security level such as secure socket level (SSL), then all information being transmitted by the forms is readable by an interceptor. SSL encrypts data sent between the users browser and the Web server, so no-one along the way can read it.

is a self-replicating computer program. It uses a network to send copies of itself to other nodes (computer terminals on the network) and it may do so without any user intervention. Unlike a virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program. Worms almost always cause harm to the network, if only by consuming bandwidth, whereas viruses almost always corrupt or modify files on a targeted computer.

Malware

also known as Malicious Software, is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. The term is a portmanteau of the words malicious and software. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.

THE END!!! BYE..