A computer virus is a rogue program that infects and causes damage to a computer system.Browser Hijacker and Multipartite are some of the most common viruses that infect a computer system. The most common way in which a virus enters a computer is by the internet.Another common way in which a virus gets entry into a computer system is when an infected USB device is plugged into the computer without getting a complete scan by an anti-virus. Installing anti-virus software is extremely important to keep the computer safe and thereby prevent loss of data from the computer.If you find our content really cool, then do check out what is a computer virus and different types of Computer virus!Symptoms Of A Computer VirusIn the modern and advanced age of the internet and technology, our electronic devices are often affected by attacks from computer viruses. Once the device gets affected by the virus, it starts behaving erratically. These are the symptoms that the infected device showcases, and thus here we will study the numerous symptoms that a computer can show once it has been affected by a computer virus.Before we explore the symptoms of a computer virus, we need to understand the working of the virus and what goal the virus wants to achieve when it infects a computer. The goal of the virus depends completely on the person who has created the virus. A computer virus essentially is a rogue program that has been created by a human being to bring harm to other different computer systems. Different types of computer viruses affect computers in different ways, and thus their effects and symptoms differ from one another. Slow performance of a computer accompanied by the appearance of extensive pop-ups is one of the most common symptoms of a computer that has been infected by a virus. Crashing of the computer system or frequent and consecutive crashing of the O.S, i.e., the operating system, is also common. If an infected computer is properly analyzed, then many unknown logins and their website cookies and cache data will also be found. These are also some of the main symptoms of a computer affected by a virus.Another major symptom of a computer infected by a virus is the missing of many important files and a sudden shortage of space in the computer. This is mainly due to the fact that the virus has deleted the files and has undergone many replications in the computer to protect itself from any harm. Network traffic increase along with sudden changes in the webpage of the internet browser is also a common symptom of a virus.Lastly comes one of the major symptoms that can cause a great deal of damage to the person whose computer is infected. The hijacking of emails is pretty common with the absence and deletion of important emails. A virus’s main opponent is the anti-virus, so many times it can be seen that a virus often shuts down the anti-virus and thus replicates in the computer.How To Prevent A Computer VirusAs the age-old saying goes, prevention is better than cure; the same can also be said about computer viruses. Curing an infected computer can be done, but it would be best if the computer doesn’t get affected by the virus in the first case. So here we will take a look at some of the steps that you can take to prevent your computer from the harmful effects of computer viruses.A lot of cyber security breaches occur due to the incorporation of weak passwords. If the password is easily cracked, then it takes just minutes before the virus affects the entire computer system. Therefore, the first step towards virus protection that you should take is to incorporate different and difficult passwords in different cyber security and social accounts.Missing important files, losing data are very common when computer viruses affect the system. Therefore keeping a backup of all the essential and important data is extremely important for everyone. Even if files get deleted or stolen during a virus attack, the backup can become handy, and once the system is restored back to normal, the data that has been kept as a backup can also be retrieved.The main important weapon against different computer viruses is anti-virus software. Hence, it is essential for every computer user to have one. Antivirus software has numerous functions in terms of combating computer viruses. Antivirus software can detect a virus even before the user can understand. This antivirus software can not only detect computer viruses but also can clean and eliminate them. Thus, the use of anti-virus software is also recommended for any and everyone. Apart from these, you should always use the firewall that is present in your computer’s operating system. The firewall acts as an extra layer of protection against computer viruses and cyber security threats.A virus essentially is an infected program that often creeps its way into your computer system from the various websites you use from your web browser. Pop-up ads are very common on many different websites, and these act as potential virus carriers. And thus, to stay clean from this nuisance, you should always install a pop-up adblocker. This not only disables ads on your browser but also substantially reduces the risk of your computer system being prone to a virus attack.A wide number of cyber-attacks happen due to email phishing. Email phishing is a process where a fraud impersonates itself as an officially recognized entity and lacks you to provide them with your personal details. This usually happens via emails where suspected links and other malicious website links are sent to the user. Once a gullible user unknown to the modern-day frauds falls victim, the cyber security of the computer system fails, and data gets stolen along with different computer viruses infecting the system. Users should always be careful while responding to emails and should never submit their personal data and information to suspicious websites. This brings to another major concept of understanding and educating. People who are unacquainted with cyber security or how the internet works can easily educate themselves in this regard and thus can keep themselves and their families secure.Effects Of A Computer VirusThe effects that a computer suffers when a virus attacks the system depend on the vulnerability of the virus concerned. However, in general, the effects are more or else very common. Here we will take a glance at the ill effects of a virus.One of the main purposes of a virus is to replicate and infect more and more files in the system. This process is often facilitated by the usage of the internet. Viruses are often transmitted from one system to another by attaching themselves with files that are often shared over the network. This usually takes place when files are shared via email. Thus users should always be aware of files that they send and receive via emails. As the virus infects the system, not only can they leak important data and information, viruses often have the ability to delete and change the data.Once a computer system is affected, the virus, which is a malicious program, starts replicating and thus effectively starts taking up more and more space of the computer. As more and more space in the computer is affected and filled with the replicating viruses and malware, the effective functioning speed of the computer starts to decrease. Once this process goes on for some time, a major portion of the computer space gets affected, and then the computer starts working in all sorts of weird ways.As the virus starts infecting a computer system, it works in various ways in destroying the files. One of the main ways in which malicious software works is affecting and effectively corrupting data that is present in the computer. For example, the file infector virus is perilously known for infecting the data files of the computer and corrupting all the data that is present in those files. These viruses either delete the files containing the data or corrupt these files to such an extent that recovery of these files is almost impossible. Once this happens, numerous programs and software that are present on your computer won’t open and launch as some files would be missing, which is essential for these programs to work. Apart from these programs malfunctioning, data from these corrupting files are often stolen by hackers or those who build these viruses.Pop-ups are quite common when they appear on the web browser for different websites; however, when there is a sudden increase in the number of these pop-up ads, then it can be understood clearly that the computer has been affected by a virus. All these add up to suspicious browser activities that are extremely common when a virus affects a computer.Different Types Of Computer VirusViruses are very common, and their usual activity of infecting a computer or a networking system is also very common. However, there is a wide range of viruses that have different names have different functions. The viruses also differ in terms of their transmission and vulnerability, along with the amount of damage that they can incur to a computer system. Boot sector virus is a common type of virus that is known to cause mayhem when the computer boots. It effectively takes control of the entire boot setup and doesn’t allow the computer to boot in the normal way. A browser hijacker is also a common computer worm that makes the web browser of your computer behave in mysterious ways. It constantly redirects your webpage to different malicious websites where there is an innumerable number of malware threats. Using an anti-malware program will be beneficial in these cases.Next, we have a resident virus. This is a unique type of virus that settles down on the computer memory and remains dormant for a long time. Once it reaches a specific time, it starts affecting the memory of the computer. A direct action virus is also very common nowadays. This virus looks like a simple program from the outside, but once it gets inside the computer system, it delivers the payload of data and script into the system and then goes undetected as it has a special prowess of becoming dormant.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 39 interesting computer virus facts you should know then why not take a look at Eniac computer facts or computer programmer facts?
A computer virus is a rogue program that infects and causes damage to a computer system.
