Running head: COMPUTER VIRUS

Computer Virus

Sneha Chideti

New England College

Computer Security: Foundations - 202050

COMPUTER VIRUS

Computer Virus

Introduction

A computer virus is any software or computer program that can make copies of itself,

spread across the network and perform background malicious processes without the user’s

consent or knowledge. Different viruses exhibit different behaviors and actions. For example,

some viruses delete, alter, or insert files, denying access, disabling hardware, etc. there are

numerous types of viruses which includes boot sector virus, direct action virus, resident,

multipartite, polymorphic, overwrite, space filler, and file infector viruses (Sikora and Zelinka,

2018). This paper briefly describes five types of the aforementioned viruses, how they spread

and ways of preventing them

Boot Sector Virus

This virus variant affects the Master Boot Record (MBR) i.e. it infects at the BIOS level.

It spreads via the use of removable media such as floppy disk, USB drive, pen drive, etc. the

challenge comes in its removal since it may encrypt the MBR though an antivirus program can

remove it. In a scenario that the virus refuses to be removed, complete formatting of the hard

disk drive may be necessary so as to eliminate the infection (Kaspersky, n.d.).

Direct Action Virus

This virus operates by attaching itself on .exe and/or .com files during their installation.

Once it's installed, the virus spreads to other applications and files rendering them inaccessible

(Comodo Antivirus, 2020). A reputable antivirus can be used in removing the virus (Atlantic

Data Forensics, 2019). According to Cyber Threat Portal (2020), this virus replicates and affects

those files in the folders but does not delete the files. Its effects on the computer include slowing

down computer speed and making some of the files inaccessible.  

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Virus 3(80)

Resident Virus

This virus variant operates by hiding within the computer’s memory and can be used to

infect any type of computing file extension (Jiao, 2016). The source of the virus is the

installation of malicious code into the RAM which results in infecting other computer programs.

To remove the virus, one can make use of the registry where one can search the virus name

under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and deleting the suspected file. Some of the resident

viruses include Randex, CMJ, and Meve ((Atlantic Data Forensics, 2019).

Macro Virus

These viruses are created using micro languages such as the Visual Basic for

Applications (VBA). This virus spreads via computer programs and mostly Microsoft Office

applications e.g. Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word. On infecting the computer, the virus is

capable of creating new files, corrupting data, executing macros, moving text, sending files,

among others. As aforementioned before, this virus is spread via applications, phishing emails,

files from a shared network, files from the internet, and files from mail attachments.  

Virus 5(80)

Multipartite Virus

This virus is capable of attacking computer files and the boot sector at the same time. To

avoid the virus, one should consider installing only the trusted anti-malware software, updating

the antivirus program, scanning files and documents using a reputable antivirus program, and

avoiding downloading file attachments from the internet of the network (Atlantic Data Forensics,

2019). The virus spreads very fast via infected programs, overwriting the existing codes, and

renders an application useless.  

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Conclusion

Computer viruses can result in a huge loss of data, files, and programs. More so, these

programs can alter, delete, or insert other files thus lowering file integrity and confidentiality. In

other cases, computer viruses have been used in executing data breaches, damaging computer

systems among others. It’s thus a good practice to ensure that computers and systems have the

latest updated antivirus and antimalware systems and to be extra cautious while handling email

attachments.
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Reference

Atlantic Data Forensics. (2019). Understanding Viruses: 10 Types You Should Know About.

Retrieved from https://www.atlanticdf.com/blog/2019/04/03/understanding-viruses-10-

types-you-should-know-about/

Cyber Threat Portal. (2020). DIFFERENT TYPES OF VIRUS ON COMPUTER. Retrieved

from https://cyberthreatportal.com/types-of-virus-on-computer/

Google scholar. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?

hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&as_ylo=2016&q=direct+action+computer++virus&btnG=

Jiao, L. I. U. (2016). U.S. Patent Application No. 14/901,477.

Sikora, L., & Zelinka, I. (2018). Swarm Virus, Evolution, Behavior, and Networking. In

Evolutionary Algorithms, Swarm Dynamics and Complex Networks (pp. 213-239).

Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.