History shows that in 1982 a man called Rich Skrenta made the first virus and put it "in the wild". This means that the virus infected systems other than the one where it was created and tested. Today experts tell us that we are loosing the war against the viruses. Mikko Hypponen who is believed to be with much influence in Internet says: "This is not just a battle between manufacturers of security software and some internet criminals. It is a war between good and evil".
Microsoft describes the virus as a small program designed to interfere with the computer system and usually take control over it. One of its main functions is to spread around the net to other users and for this it usually uses the e-mail software or instant message tools.
The damage that a virus could make is usually permanent. It can erase data, it can change it on a way that is no longer useable or it can delete your whole hard drive. Some viruses of course don't target the data. They spy on your activity and warn their creators about it. In fact we can't predict what the next virus could do. It is a program like all your software. It can do anything.
When talking about viruses most inexperienced users imagine horrible things because the very word virus terrifies them. Others take it very lightly saying: "What is the worse that can happen? I'll just reinstall some software..." But where these frivolous thoughts end and begin the real problem?
To be infected could be a crime by itself. Imagine yourself working on a big corporation that in every moment dependents on the Internet and on every computer system in it. If your system is infected the infrastructure of the corporation is at stake because you are part of this infrastructure.
If we check the news we will see things like ReverseClick.A is a Trojan that disables some of your primary programs like task manger and registry editor, it swaps you mouse buttons and do a lot of things that you won't like. XPCSpy can hide itself using some advanced technologies know as rootkits, Piggi.B conceal itself in the well known browser Internet Explorer and every time the user runs it the system is "updated" again with the virus code. The list of news goes on and every day new viruses appears to threaten our systems.
"When this will end?" you may ask but no ending is foreseen. The only protection against viruses today is the anti-virus.
Anti-virus is software that works on different modes. In real time mode it checks all system activity and looks for malicious codes that are executed in the system. In scanning mode it can checks all files for the core code of different viruses or parts of them. Usually good anti-virus software can prevent most infections before they are able to do damage. It is very important for the protection software to be updated on regular bases because it uses different virus definitions that you need to have. In a bad day anti-virus companies receives more then 40000 possible virus codes and they work very hard on making a definition and a way to disinfect the system. This is why an update is always required and a good way to do that is to set your auto update option on.
There is no way to be sure if your system is clean and you are safe to work. That's why many people choose to have some experienced people working for them to prevent data stealing or deletion. One good virus removal company is Rescue Techusa .
