computers vs viruses Essay

Submitted By awkward_weird
Words: 533
Pages: 3

COMPUTERS VS VIRUSES Computers and viruses, the two have been battling since the creation of the internet. Every day hundreds to thousands people are affected by viruses and are left frustrated because they are not aware of how they work and how to get rid of them. Viruses affect computers and their function in multiple ways such as: slowing it down, allowing hackers to access your files, sometimes crashing it, and are most commonly spread through e-mail. These viruses can and do go by many different shapes, forms, sizes and have a deadly effect on computers. No one likes having to deal with these viruses. The first computer virus that was leaked into the public was made by a computer programmer, Rich Skrenta, in high school back in 1982. This program he created was called “Elk Cloner” and it was first made as a joke. It was inputted into a game and after the 50th time playing the game the virus would launch, turning the screen black and displaying a poem about the virus ,and from there on the computer was infected. It would attach itself to an Apple DOS 3.3 operating system and was later spread via floppy disk. Over time from the simple joke the first computer virus was, it spread to become complex and difficult to handle. Not all computer viruses are the same. Computer viruses are different in how they behave, replicate, and/or infect. There are several different categories of viruses and malware.
The most common of all these computer viruses are: Trojan Horses, Worms, Boot sector Virus, Macro virus, Memory Resident Viruses, Root kit Virus, Polymorphic viruses, and last Logic/Time Bombs, and here are how they all work. Trojan horses program appears to be helpful and has qualities that are desired. Once you have downloaded this software or program it may tell you of the work it has been doing on you computer but it will also be secretly performing other undesired effects. The Trojan horse does not replicate itself but does damage your computer. A Trojan horse is sent by either an advertisement to download a software