Several Common Ways That Viruses Spread
In addition to the common methods of spreading through email attachments boot infections & program infectors there are other ways by which viruses spread to your computer. These include:
Infection by Disk Floppy Zip CD’s Tapes etc.
Floppy disks though not as commonly used as in the past are still a very common way viruses being spread from machine to machine. Anyone with an infected machine using a floppy disk to copy & save files can also copy & transfer the virus. Any use of that same removable disk by any user at any time in the future will most likely contaminate or re-contaminate the any computer it used with. The only way to properly clean an infected floppy disk is to perform a low-level format. The normal Windows tm “format disk” is often not enough.
With CD’s all the above holds true with the exception that an infected CD can never be cleaned. To get rid of an infected CD you need to put it in the trash & never use it again.
Infection from Networks
Peer-to-Peer network Local Area Networks LAN a Wide Area Network WAN Wireless Networks & the Internet are all computer networks. They all have the same basic purpose; to share software & information resources between two or more computers. As with anything else that is shared between computers networks let users share files & wherever files are shared viruses can be shared & spread.
Most network virus/worm/Trojan activity is like what we described earlier although more & more examples of automatic mass mailing attacks system resource attacks are being found.
Recently many attacks are designed to specifically target major corporate interests Microsoft eBay Amazon major Banks etc. in an attempt to disrupt their online services. Very generally these are called DOS denial of service attacks. The way they most commonly work is by secretly infecting thousands of local user computers like the one you are using right now & then at a specific time launching a combined attack from all the infected machines against the primary target.
As you can see your computer can be hijacked without your knowledge & then used in a major attack against an unsuspecting company. However with up-to-date virus/firewall protection your computer will be immune to such hijacking.
Other ways by which virus spreads
Other sources of viruses have been found to be the result of software downloads available over the Internet. Software patches drivers demonstration software from reputable companies generally carries little risk. However the Internet is also filled with “unofficial” software pirated programs & low-budget software from questionable sources that may be intentionally or unintentionally infected with viruses. Files downloaded directly form Internet either through file-sharing programs or direct download from websites are among the fastest growing sources of computer virus infections.
Email with its nearly universal availability & ease of use; chat rooms & messenger systems not only make communication simple & quick also make the transmission & re-transmission of infection simple & alarmingly fast. Creators of newer viruses & internet worms specifically target these systems because they are widely used & are often built right into the operating system & used with default settings making them much easier to attack & exploit.
As a point of reference Internet Explorer & Outlook/Outlook express email clients are two of the applications most targeted by Internet viruses & worms. Why? Because they are installed on more computers around the world than any other software & they are installed 99% of the time with default settings which means virus programmers have an easy blueprint to follow .
If you use an email system or instant message system that is installed automatically with your computer’s operating system you need to install & use current antivirus software. You also need to learn how to turn off certain default settings that can leave your system open to very easy attack.
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