| Viruses The world of the Internet is a mysterious and interesting place. But far too many times, people abuse their place on the 'Net, and place what are known as "viruses" out there for people to download unknowingly. They hide themselves in .EXE and .COM files. |
| The oldest and best-known software weapons, computer viruses come in all
shapes and flavors, from "harmless" prank messages to electronic forms of Ebola
that chew up your data and spit it out as garbage. The very openness of the Internet--and
the number of relatively inexperienced newcomers using it -- makes it likely we'll be
hearing about a lot of virus-ridden computers in the next few years. According to experts at McAfee Associates, a maker of virus detection and protection software, as many as 10,000 viruses may be currently in circulation. And the company estimates that 300 to 400 new viruses are being created and circulated per month. That's a dozen or so new ones every day. Some viruses infect your PC's boot sector--the first data area your computer seeks when you start it up--and rewrite the sector, crippling your system. Others infect the files that launch or run most of your software, rendering your programs unusable. (According to McAfee, macro viruses, which take effect when you execute a macro command from an application such as a word processor or spreadsheet, are now the most common type of virus being developed.) Other deadly viruses erase your computer's CMOS setup tables (the records that tell your machine what sort of system it is), making it impossible for your computer to work. Or consider a virus that makes only the smallest and most subtle of changes to your computer's data, the sort of thing you wouldn't notice until the moment when you really need something -- and it's been corrupted. Good Times pkzip300.exe and pkzip300.zip |