ComputerVirusesandDataSecurity-WesternUniversity.pdfVIP

Resources for Online Learners Computer Viruses and Data Security What Are Computer Viruses and Why Are They Harmful? Viruses are an unpleasant fact of computing life. Tens of thousands of individual viruses had been identified, and new ones are being created all the time. Some of these viruses are worms, sets of instructions that replicate themselves over a computer network and use up the computers resources, often shutting the system down. Macro viruses are spread through shared documents. Many applications, such as Microsoft Word and Excel, support powerful macro languages to streamline complex or repetitive tasks. These applications allow you to embed a macro in a document, and have the macro execute each time the document is opened. Once a macro virus gets onto your machine, it can embed itself in all future documents you create with the application. According to some estimates, 75% of all viruses today are macro viruses. Boot sector viruses are especially dangerous, since they erase or modify critical portions of your operating system, making your computer inoperable. Some viruses can be destructive without harming any particular computer. Circulated as an e- mail attachment, the melissa virus was downloaded from the Internet by numerous unsuspecting computer users, where it replicated and e-mailed itself to the first 50 people in each user’s address book. The resulting exponential growth of melissa tied up Internet traffic around the world. Ot