Types of Computer Viruses – If your computer starts showing performance degradation, it could be because of a virus nesting in it. Various types of viruses could damage the operating system of the computer. Viruses are computer programs that copy themselves and then infect with copies of themselves into other programs or documents on the system. This activity is what caused the damage.
Exchanging files using flash drives, downloading files, and so on can be a medium for spreading viruses.
To help prevent this, it is very important to have some kind of basic knowledge of the various types of computer viruses. Here are some types of computer viruses that you need to avoid to stay protected from various cybercrime that is circulating.
Types of Computer Viruses
1. Worms
At a glance, Worm is a computer virus that doesn’t seem too dangerous. However, if allowed to continue this virus can quickly fill up computer storage and make the computer system. Increasing the risks of system crashes or freezes. This virus can reproduce itself quickly and can create useless random files on the computer. Memory and hard disk become full of viruses because of this. This worm virus can infect computers via e-mail that are on the internet, similar to the Trojan virus when it comes to infection methods.
2. Trojans
This type of computer virus can control the system, modify data or even steal data on a computer. As with worm viruses, this Trojan virus usually spreads through the internet network and also emails received by users and personal data that is not password-protected or encrypted. The purpose of the Trojan is to obtain information from the target such as passwords, user habits recorded in system logs, data, and control of the target system.
3. Back Door
A backdoor is a type of computer virus that is almost the same as a trojan. However, a Backdoor usually resembles a normal file such as a game exe file. Backdoor refers to a mechanism that can be used to access a system, application, or network, other than commonly used mechanisms such as going through a logon or other authentication process.
Below are the more dangerous types of viruses
Dangerous Virus Types
1. Spyware
Spyware viruses are software installed surreptitiously by hackers and used to monitor victims’ online or offline behavior. This is classified as a type of malware designed to access and damage your computer. It is a derivative of advertising software, which monitors a user’s Internet browsing habits to deliver “loads of advertisements” to the user. Although advertising software is less harmful because it doesn’t commit data theft. Spyware on the other hand collects and sends behavior data back. Spyware can cause losses such as data theft, additional internet costs, and making the internet connection slower.
2. Rogues
Rogue is a program that mimics an antivirus program and performs acts like a normal antivirus. The difference is it will give false warnings about the presence of viruses. The goal is for users to purchase and activate the fake antivirus program and bring money to the rogue virus creators. Also, rogues can open security holes in computers to introduce other types of viruses.
3. Rootkits
Rootkits are a type of stealthy malware to hide the presence of certain processes or programs on your computer from usual methods of detection. Thereby allowing other malicious processes to access your computer. These root-kits often modify parts of the operating system and also install themselves as driver or core module.
Common types of viruses
1. Web Scripting Virus
Web Scripting is a programming code that is used to operate the content contained in a website. However, there are malicious websites that use this scripting code to inject malware to breach web browser security and infect the computer. It can cause slowdowns and other annoyances.
2. Multipartite Virus
The multipartite virus is a type of virus that simultaneously attacks systems’ boot sector and executable files. If not resolved immediately, then this virus will infect the hard drive. This multipartite virus can attack your computer very quickly. This is harmful to the computer’s hard drive and can also eat away at your RAM. Depending on the type, there are Multipartite viruses that will automatically format the hard disk causing data and important documents lost.
3. Memory Resident Virus
As the name suggests, Memory Resident Virus is one of the viruses able to infect RAM. The effect of this virus is that it will infect programs and cause computer slow-downs. This type of virus will automatically activate when the computer is turned on. The existence of this virus will make programs inside the computer perform abnormal behavior. You need a good antivirus to deal with this kind of virus.
4. Fat Virus
FAT Virus is a virus that attacks the File Allocation Table (FAT) which is a type of hard drive file system. This virus can hide important files as if the files were lost or deleted. Making it quite dangerous and annoying.
5. Directory Viruses
This virus is a type of virus that can infect files with the .exe extension. Files that have these extensions will disappear or get errors for no reason when trying to execute them. When the .exe file runs, this Directory Virus will also be active and can infect other files. If this virus starts to spread, the computer will slow down and many programs won’t be able to run. This directory virus itself will not work if just simply scanning or cleaning using an antivirus. One way is to reinstall the operating system on the computer and format the hard drive on your computer.
6. Companion Viruses
A companion virus is a type of computer virus that can interfere with the personal data of the computer owner. This type of virus will hide on the hard disk and it is difficult to detect it. The Companion virus can corrupt the data format into a fake data format with .com or .Apk. This virus usually gathers with newly created files. Therefore dealing with this type of computer virus can only be prevented by installing and cleaning it regularly with an antivirus.
