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NAME:DIMA-ABASI NYA EBITO
DEPARTMENT: MEDICINE AND SURGERY
COURSE: INFGORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
DATE: 2ND DECEMBER 2014
LEVEL: 100 LEVEL
ASSIGNMENT
Discuss any 5 effects of computer virus
EFFECTS OF COMPUTER VIRUS
A computer virus is a type of malware that is intentionally written to gain entry
into your computer, without your knowledge or permission. It has the capacity
to modify or replicate itself, in which case it will continue spreading. There are
varying effects of computer virus, they include:
1. IT CAN SLOW DOWN THE COMPUTER
Viruses slow down the operations of the computer, since they occupy its
memory. The computer may also hang frequently and display inconsistent error
messages. The system may restart suddenly, and sometimes fail to load
properly, while limiting your access to the disk drives.
2. IT CAN CORRUPT YOUR SYSTEM FILES
These types of viruses are usually called the file viruses. These types of viruses
are the most common, and mostly infect open files and program libraries on an
operating system. The virus functions by inserting itself into a host file, modifies
it in such a way that the virus is executed when the file is opened. They are also
known as left viruses. Today, there are known viruses infecting all kinds of
executables of standard DOS: batch command files (BAT), loadable drivers (SYS,
including special purpose files IO.SYS and MS- DOS.SYS) and binary executables
(EXE, COM). There are also viruses targeting executables of other operating
systems - Windows 3.x, Windows95/NT, OS/2, Macintosh, Unix, including the
VxD drivers of Windows 3.x and Windows95.
3. IT CAN DAMAGE THE BOOT SECTOR OF THE COMPUTER
These types of viruses are called the boot sector viruses. A boot sector virus is
a virus that places its own codes and commands into a computer's DOS boot
sector or Master Boot Record (MBR). When this type of virus has infected a
system, the MBR is usually corrupted and a computer's boot sequence is
changed. Boot sector viruses can be dangerous and prolific because they are
loaded onto a computer every time one starts up, and in time, they can spread
to other readable disks. Booting problems and start up problems, problems with
retrieving data, computer performance instability and the inability to locate
hard drives are all issues that may arise due to an infection.
4. SUPRISING BEHAVIOUR OF THE COMPUTER SYSTEM
A computer's mouse pointer may start to jump around the screen or stop
responding. Surprising graphics or applications may also appear on a computer
screen, possibly in multiple windows. Some computer viruses have historically
been written as pranks and only display an image on computer screens for a
programmer to gain personal notoriety. This is obviously not a wise way to
prove a person's programming skills, but computer viruses are supposedly often
written for such reasons.
5. IT MIGHT STEAL IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM YOUR COMPUTER
Viruses are generally targeted to steal information from computers that are
infected. Viruses can steal information from your computer, but generally from
text files, not from images Most attacks these days are financially motivated,
which means cybercriminals are trying to get at either your data or your
computer’s processing power to make money by spewing spam on your behalf
or by stealing your identity. They're after the names and numbers in your
address book and want to access your social networking sites and steal your
personal data (social security or credit card numbers, bank account information,
etc).