A blog on Computers

What Is A Computer Virus?

It is necessary to understand what a virus is when it occurs in a living form (such as a human body, an animal, or a plant) before understanding what a computer virus is. Microorganisms such as viruses, are only able to divide within another living cell. It is typically harmful to the cell or body in which it lives, and is the cause of many illnesses and diseases.

The word virus literally means ‘poison’ in Latin and that is basically what it is - a ‘poison’, able to reproduce itself within another cell or body and an example of an illness caused by a virus is hepatitis. How does this relate to computers? Usually the computer virus is hidden within a program, file or document which means it can be anywhere on your pc.

There are some clever individuals who have nothing worthwhile to do with their time that create and spread these computer viruses. Causing havoc is the main reason for doing this. Files and documents can be severely damaged when a computer virus enters the computer, similar to the effects of influenza upon the human body. A computer virus can spread itself through files and documents; such as word-processing documents, spreadsheets, emails, computer programs etc. As well as through the Internet and through local computer networks, it can multiply through removable storage devices such as memory sticks and floppy disks. Because it is hidden, it is hard to detect and it can be spread to other computers, unknowingly, by the computer user.

Well, it works similarly to viruses (like the flu) that make a person sick. The amount of damage caused by a ‘digital virus’ is dependant upon what it has been instructed to do. Some words used to identify various viruses are Macro Viruses, Email Viruses and Trojan Horses. The first step to learning what to do about viruses is understanding the basics of what they are and how to be entirely control the safety of your computer.