4/28/2015

DifferentTypesofComputerViruses

DifferentTypesofComputerViruses
Computervirusisasoftwareprogramwrittenwithmaliciousintentions.Therearenumberofcomputervirusesthatcanimpedethefunctioning
ofyourcomputersystem.Letusfindoutthedifferenttypesofcomputerviruses.
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In2010,StuxnetvirustargetedSiemensIndustrialSoftwareand
Equipment.ThereareallegationsthatthisvirusisapartofaU.S.and
Israeliintelligenceoperationnamed"OperationOlympicGames"andit
hitIran'snuclearplantNatanz.

Computervirusisaharmfulsoftwareprogramwrittenintentionallytoenteracomputerwithout
theuser'spermissionorknowledge.Ithastheabilitytoreplicateitself,thuscontinuingtospread.
Somevirusesdolittlebutreplicate,whileotherscancausesevereharmoradverselyaffectthe
programandperformanceofthesystem.Avirusshouldneverbeassumedharmlessandleftona
system.
Therearedifferenttypesofviruseswhichcanbeclassifiedaccordingtotheirorigin,techniques,typesoffilestheyinfect,wheretheyhide,the
kindofdamagetheycause,thetypeofoperatingsystem,orplatformtheyattack.Letushavealookatfewofthem.
MemoryResidentVirus
ThesevirusesfixthemselvesinthecomputermemoryandgetactivatedwhenevertheOSrunsandinfectsallthefilesthatarethenopened.
Hideout:ThistypeofvirushidesintheRAMandstaysthereevenafterthemaliciouscodeisexecuted.Itgetscontroloverthesystem
memoryandallocatememoryblocksthroughwhichitrunsitsowncode,andexecutesthecodewhenanyfunctionisexecuted.
Target:Itcancorruptfilesandprogramsthatareopened,closed,copied,renamed,etc.
Examples:Randex,CMJ,Meve,andMrKlunky
Protection:Installanantivirusprogram.
DirectActionViruses
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Themainpurposeofthisvirusistoreplicateandtakeactionwhenitisexecuted.Whenaspecificconditionismet,theviruswillgointoaction
andinfectfilesinthedirectoryorfolderthatarespecifiedintheAUTOEXEC.BATfilepath.Thisbatchfileisalwayslocatedintherootdirectoryof
theharddiskandcarriesoutcertainoperationswhenthecomputerisbooted.
FindFirst/FindNexttechniqueisusedwherethecodeselectsafewfilesasitsvictims.Italsoinfectstheexternaldeviceslikependrivesorhard
disksbycopyingitselfonthem.
Hideout:Theviruseskeepchangingtheirlocationintonewfileswheneverthecodeisexecuted,butaregenerallyfoundintheharddisk's
rootdirectory.
Target:Itcancorruptfiles.Basically,itisafileinfectervirus.
Examples:Viennavirus
Protection:Installanantivirusscanner.However,thistypeofvirushasminimaleffectonthecomputer'sperformance.
OverwriteViruses
Avirusofthiskindischaracterizedbythefactthatitdeletestheinformationcontainedinthefilesthatitinfects,renderingthempartiallyor
totallyuselessoncetheyhavebeeninfected.
Hideout:Thevirusreplacesthefilecontent.However,itdoesnotchangethefilesize.
Examples:Way,Trj.Reboot,Trivial.88.D
Protection:Theonlywaytocleanafileinfectedbyanoverwritevirusistodeletethefilecompletely,thuslosingtheoriginalcontent.
However,itisveryeasytodetectthistypeofvirus,astheoriginalprogrambecomesuseless.
BootSectorVirus
Thistypeofvirusaffectsthebootsectorofaharddisk.Thisisacrucialpartofthedisk,inwhichinformationofthediskitselfisstoredalong
withaprogramthatmakesitpossibletoboot(start)thecomputerfromthedisk.ThistypeofvirusisalsocalledMasterBootSectorVirusor
MasterBootRecordVirus.
Hideout:IthidesinthememoryuntilDOSaccessesthefloppydisk,andwhicheverbootdataisaccessed,thevirusinfectsit.
Examples:Polyboot.B,AntiEXE
Protection:Thebestwayofavoidingbootsectorvirusesistoensurethatfloppydisksarewriteprotected.Also,neverstartyourcomputer
withanunknownfloppydiskinthediskdrive.

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DifferentTypesofComputerViruses

MacroVirus
Macrovirusesinfectfilesthatarecreatedusingcertainapplicationsorprogramsthatcontainmacros,like.doc,.xls,.pps,.mdb,etc.Thesemini
programsmakeitpossibletoautomateseriesofoperationssothattheyareperformedasasingleaction,therebysavingtheuserfromhaving
tocarrythemoutonebyone.Thesevirusesautomaticallyinfectthefilethatcontainsmacros,andalsoinfectsthetemplatesanddocuments
thatthefilecontains.Itisreferredtoasatypeofemailvirus.
Hideout:Thesehideindocumentsthataresharedviaemailornetworks.
Examples:Relax,Melissa.A,Bablas,O97M/Y2K
Protection:Thebestprotectiontechniqueistoavoidopeningemailsfromunknownsenders.Also,disablingmacroscanhelptoprotect
yourusefuldata.
DirectoryVirus
Directoryviruses(alsocalledClusterVirus/FileSystemVirus)infectthedirectoryofyourcomputerbychangingthepaththatindicatesthe
locationofafile.Whenyouexecuteaprogramfilewithanextension.EXEor.COMthathasbeeninfectedbyavirus,youareunknowingly
runningthevirusprogram,whiletheoriginalfileandprogramispreviouslymovedbythevirus.Onceinfected,itbecomesimpossibletolocate
theoriginalfiles.
Hideout:Itisusuallylocatedinonlyonelocationofthedisk,butinfectstheentireprograminthedirectory.
Examples:Dir2virus
Protection:Allyoucandois,reinstallallthefilesfromthebackupthatareinfectedafterformattingthedisk.
PolymorphicVirus
Polymorphicvirusesencryptorencodethemselvesinadifferentway(usingdifferentalgorithmsandencryptionkeys)everytimetheyinfecta
system.Thismakesitimpossibleforantivirussoftwaretofindthemusingstringorsignaturesearches(becausetheyaredifferentineach
encryption).Thevirusthengoesontocreatealargenumberofcopies.
Examples:Elkern,Marburg,SatanBugandTuareg
Protection:Installahighendantivirusasthenormalonesareincapableofdetectingthistypeofvirus.
CompanionViruses
Companionvirusescanbeconsideredasatypeoffileinfectorvirus,likeresidentordirectactiontypes.Theyareknownascompanionviruses
becauseoncetheygetintothesystemthey'accompany'theotherfilesthatalreadyexist.Inotherwords,tocarryouttheirinfectionroutines,
companionvirusescanwaitinmemoryuntilaprogramisrun(residentvirus),oractimmediatelybymakingcopiesofthemselves(directaction
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virus).
Hideout:Thesegenerallyusethesamefilenameandcreateadifferentextensionofit.Forexample:Ifthereisafile"Me.exe",thevirus
createsanotherfilenamed"Me.com"andhidesinthenewfile.Whenthesystemcallsthefilename"Me",the".com"filegetsexecuted(as
".com"hashigherprioritythan".exe"),thusinfectingthesystem.
Examples:Stator,Asimov.1539andTerrax.1069
Protection:InstallanantivirusscannerandalsodownloadFirewall.
FATVirus
Thefileallocationtable(FAT)isthepartofadiskusedtostorealltheinformationaboutthelocationoffiles,availablespace,unusablespace,
etc.
Hideout:FATvirusattackstheFATsectionandmaydamagecrucialinformation.Itcanbeespeciallydangerousasitpreventsaccessto
certainsectionsofthediskwhereimportantfilesarestored.Damagecausedcanresultinlossofinformationfromindividualfilesoreven
entiredirectories.
Examples:LinkVirus
Protection:Beforethevirusattacksallthefilesonthecomputer,locateallthefilesthatareactuallyneededontheharddrive,andthen
deletetheonesthatarenotneeded.Theymaybefilescreatedbyviruses.
MultipartiteVirus
Thesevirusesspreadinmultiplewayspossible.Itmayvaryinitsactiondependingupontheoperatingsysteminstalledandthepresenceof
certainfiles.
Hideout:Intheinitialphase,thesevirusestendtohideinthememoryastheresidentvirusesdothentheyinfecttheharddisk.
Examples:Invader,FlipandTequila
Protection:Youneedtocleanthebootsectorandalsothedisktogetridofthevirus,andthenreloadallthedatainit.However,ensure
thatthedataisclean.
WebScriptingVirus
Manywebpagesincludecomplexcodesinordertocreateaninterestingandinteractivecontent.Thiscodeisoftenexploitedtobringabout
certainundesirableactions.
Hideout:Themainsourcesofwebscriptingvirusesarethewebbrowsersorinfectedwebpages.

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Examples:JS.Fortnightisavirusthatspreadsthroughmaliciousemails.
Protection:InstallthemicrosofttoolapplicationthatisadefaultfeatureinWindows2000,Windows7andVista.Scanthecomputerwith
thisapplication.
Worms
Awormisaprogramverysimilartoavirusithastheabilitytoselfreplicateandcanleadtonegativeeffectsonyoursystem.Buttheycanbe
detectedandeliminatedbyanantivirussoftware.
Hideout:Thesegenerallyspreadthroughemailsandnetworks.Theydonotinfectfilesordamagethem,buttheyreplicatesofastthatthe
entirenetworkmaycollapse.
Examples:PSWBugbear.B,Lovgate.F,Trile.C,Sobig.D,Mapson
Protection:Installanupdatedversionofantivirus.
Trojans
AnotherunsavorybreedofmaliciouscodeareTrojansorTrojanhorses,whichunlikeviruses,donotreproducebyinfectingotherfiles,nordo
theyselfreplicatelikeworms.Infact,itisaprogramwhichdisguisesitselfasausefulprogramorapplication.
Bewareofthefactthatthesevirusescopyfilesinyourcomputer(whentheircarrierprogramisexecuted)thatcandamageyourdata,and
evendeleteit.Theattackercanalsoprogramthetrojansinsuchamannerthattheinformationinyourcomputerisaccessibletothem.
LogicBombs
Theyarenotconsideredvirusesbecausetheydonotreplicate.Theyarenotevenprogramsintheirownright,butrathercamouflaged
segmentsofotherprograms.Theyareonlyexecutedwhenacertainpredefinedconditionismet.Theirobjectiveistodestroydataonthe
computeroncecertainconditionshavebeenmet.Logicbombsgoundetecteduntillaunched,theresultscanbedestructive,andyourentire
datacanbedeleted!

VirusesAffectingPalmOS
TheinitiallaunchofPalmOSin1996andthenthestablereleasein2007madewayforattackerstowritenewmaliciouscodes.The
virusesknowntilldatethataffectthistypeofOSare:
1. "Liberty"Crack:ItisaTrojanhorsethatdeletesallyourfilesandapplicationsfromyourPDA.
2. PEMagic:ItallegedlydeletestheROM.
3. Phage:Itdeletesyourfiles.
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4. Vapor:Itdeletesyourfiles.
Withallsaidanddone,thereisnorealthreattoyourPDAsasregardstovirusattacks.Thereisstillnoevidenceshowingtheamountof
damagethesevirusescancause.
VirusesAffectingSymbianOS
SymbianOSalsohasnoprovenvirusthreats.TheonlyvirusthatissaidtoaffectthesmartphonesistheCabirvirus.However,thisvirus
runsinthebackgroundanddrainsthebatterypower.ThefactthatthesevirusesspreadviaBluetoothhasalsoproventobeamyth.

Thisyear,too,therehavebeenvirusattacksthathavethreatenedtodeleteourfilesandapplications.Here'salookatthem:

2012'sWorstViruses

!Flame:ItissaidtobethefirstofitskindthatusesBluetoothasthespreadmedium.ItwasfirstdetectedinaRussianlab.
!BelgianComputerCrimeVirus:Thisvirusspreadgloballyandaskedtheusersforsomevitalinformationandaprocessingfee,
claimingthatitwasforpolicerecords.

!Shamoon:Thisvirusisdangerousasitcreatesfilesofthedataonyourharddisk,andthenthiscompileddataissenttotheattacker.

Besides,therearemanyothercomputervirusesthathaveapotentialtoinfectyourdigitaldata.Hence,itisamustthatyouprotectyourdata
byinstallingagenuinequalityantivirussoftware.
ByJayashreePakhare
LastUpdated:October16,2012
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