Forms of Different Viruses & Antivirus Software

What Is Antivirus software?

An antivirus is a program with which it is possible to protect a computer against most viruses, worms, Trojans, among other invaders that are unwanted and that have been designed to infect computers.

They are characterized by being advanced programs that are not exclusively dedicated to detecting viruses, but rather take on the task of blocking them, disinfecting files that have been modified and preventing new infections.

Antivirus Software Classification

·         Preventive Antivirus Software - They are characterized by being in charge of warning before an infection occurs. In general, this is a type of antivirus software that is present in the computer's memory, monitoring each of the actions and functions of the system.
 
·         Antivirus Software Identifiers - These are those whose objective is to identify programs that can infect the computer and therefore affect the system. On the other hand, they also track specific code sequences that may be linked to viruses.
 
·         Decontamination Antivirus Software - They are similar to identifier antivirus software, but in this case, their specialty lies in decontaminating a system that has already been infected, due to the action of malicious programs. In this case, the main objective is for an operating system to be as it was at startup.

Forms of Computer Viruses

There are many types of computer viruses that can be identified today, so it is important to know them, to improve the defense of the devices:

 

1.    Worm or Computer Worm - It is a type of malware that is characterized by staying in the memory of the computer and that is duplicated in it without the user intervening in the process. They typically consume a lot of bandwidth or system memory.
 
2.    Trojan Horse - It is a class of computer virus that hides in a legitimate program, so that when it is executed it begins to damage the computer. To a large extent it affects the security of the PC so that it is completely defenseless and in turn capture information that is sent to other sites, such as passwords.
 
3.    Logic or Time Bombs - They are characterized by being activated once a specific event occurs. You can think of a combination of certain keys or a particular date. In case the fact does not happen, the virus will simply remain hidden.
 
4.    Hoax - They do not have the ability to reproduce on their own and the truth is that they are not true viruses. In reality, they are messages with content that is not true and that ends up encouraging the user to forward the information to the contacts. Normally, these fake viruses seek to overload the flow of information through emails and networks.
 
5.    Link - They are viruses that modify the addresses through which the computer is accessed through which it resides. In that sense, they make it impossible to locate the files that have been stored.
 
6.    Overwriting - They are computer viruses that cause the loss of the content of the files they attack. This happens because it overwrites the previous one.
 
7.    Resident - It is a virus that remains in memory and waits for the user to run a file or programs to infect it.
 
8.    Boot Sector Viruses - They lodge in the hard drive's boot sector, a crucial part of the disk that is needed for the computer to boot from the hard drive.
 
9.    Macro Viruses - They infect files using applications or programs that contain macros, such as Microsoft's office suite. Due to their characteristics, they can automate a series of operations so that they are executed as if they were a single action.
 
10.  Polymorphic Viruses - They are viruses that are encrypted or modified in a different way through algorithms and encryption keys once they manage to infect the system.
 
11.  Fat Virus - The fat file allocation table is a part of the hard disk that is used to store the information about the location of the files, the space that cannot be used, and the space available. They prevent access to certain sections of the disk.
 
12.  Web Scripting Virus - Complex code for creating interesting content is included on some websites. This type of code is sometimes exploited so that computer viruses cause undesirable actions for the user.
 
13.  Browser Hijacker - These are viruses that spread in many different ways, such as a voluntary download. If the browser is infected, the user will be automatically redirected to certain sites.
 
14.  Email Virus - It spreads through emails, once the recipient opens them.
 
15.  Companion Virus - It is a virus that infects files directly and in turn to
 
16.   Resident Types (viruses). As for accessing the computer, they can accompany other existing files.
 
17.  Multipartite Virus - It is a virus that can spread in various ways. Among its actions, depending on the operating system will be adjusted. They almost always hide within memory without infecting the hard drive.

What Are The Limitations Of Antivirus Software?

·         Do not avoid spam - In some cases they offer online protection, but the truth is that they are not entirely effective.
 
·         They do not prevent direct attacks - In case a person with advanced knowledge until the own computer, they are not in a position to be a defense.
 
·         They do not prevent criminal activities - Nor are they software capable of this work.