MRM pg 1-5.pdf - Mabati Rolling Mills

MABATINEWS
Computer virus
By Sam Kamau
Systems Administrator
Dear Reader, the word
COMPUTER VIRUS has
become a generic term that
refers to all the malicious ways that
your computer can be attacked.
The most common blunder people
make when the topic of a computer
virus arise is to refer to a worm or
trojan horse as a virus. While the
words trojan horse, worm and virus
are often used interchangeably, they
are not the same. Viruses, Worms
and Trojan Horses are all malicious
programs that can cause damage
to your computer, but there are
differences among the three, and
knowing those differences can help
you to better protect your computer
from their often damaging effects.
A virus is a small program (piece of
code) that piggybacks on other programs
or files. A virus can be attached to a word or
excel file by placing its code in the path of
execution so that each time the file is run,
the virus runs too hence replicating itself in
the process.
Since a virus is programmed to alter
the way a computer operates, without the
permission or knowledge of the user it can
damage your programs, hardware and even
delete your files. Others are not designed
to do any damage, but simply to replicate
themselves and make their presence
known by presenting text, video, and audio
messages. Even these “simple” viruses can
create problems for the computer user.
They typically take up computer memory
used by legitimate programs. As a result,
they often cause erratic behavior and can
result in system crashes.
A worm is similar to a virus by its design,
and is considered to be a sub-class of a virus.
Worms spread from computer to computer,
but unlike a virus, it has the capability to
travel without any help from a person.
Worms replicate themselves from
system to system without the use of a host
file. This is in contrast with viruses, which
require the spreading of an infected host
file.
A worm takes advantage of information
transport features on your system, which
allows it to travel unaided. The biggest
danger with a worm is its capability to
replicate itself on your system, so rather
than your computer sending out a single
worm, it could send out hundreds or
thousands of copies of itself, creating a
huge devastating effect.
Due to the copying nature of a worm
and its capability to travel across networks
the end result in most cases is that the
worm consumes too much system memory
(or network bandwidth), causing network
servers and individual computers to stop
responding. More recent attacks such as
the much-talked-about blaster worm, have
been designed to tunnel into your system
and allow malicious users to control your
computer remotely. Others are designed
using SMPT (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
engines and will send hundreds of email
from your system without your knowledge
– spamming.
A Trojan horse is a computer program
masquerading as a benign application,
game or a “cute” program.
The Trojan horse, at first glance, will
appear to be useful software but will
actually do damage once installed or run
on your computer. Those on the receiving
end of a Trojan horse are usually tricked
into opening them because they appear
to be receiving legitimate software or
files from a legitimate source. When a
Trojan is activated on your computer,
the results can vary. Trojans are
designed to be more annoying than
malicious (like changing your desktop,
adding silly active desktop icons,
blocking your screen with a graphic
that will not go away). Trojans are also
known to create a backdoor on your
computer that gives malicious users
access to your system, possibly allowing
confidential or personal information to
be compromised. Unlike viruses and
worms, Trojans do not reproduce by
infecting other files nor do they self-
replicate.
Having familiarized ourselves with
the above terms we now need to be
alert of messages that are normally sent
by email to propagate unnecessary alarm
about viruses.
Virus hoaxes are messages, almost
always sent by email, that amount to little
more than chain letters. Following are some
of the common phrases that are used in
these hoaxes:
If you receive an email titled [virus hoax
name here], do not open it!
Delete it immediately!
It contains the virus [hoax name].
It will delete everything on your hard
drive [extreme and improbable danger
specified here].
This virus was announced today by
[reputable organization name here e.g.
CNN].
Forward this warning to [everyone in
your address book!]
Most virus hoax warnings do not deviate
far from this pattern. If you are unsure if a
virus warning is legitimate or a hoax, kindly
seek clarification from your system admin
or from the Internet through a website like
www.symantec.com .
I trust and hope that this article has
enlightened you on the various threats
posed to our systems and you can clearly
distinguish them.
Thank you for taking your time to read this
article.
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M A B A T I N E W S