Malware for dummies
By Kamini Budke , SE EXTC
In the middle of your binge session , a dialogue box pops up with an ominous ‘ ding ’ on your laptop . There are three or four lines of complete computer gibberish . You can ’ t close this dialogue box . You can ’ t store your work and restart . It ’ s as if your computer is mocking you by displaying a jargon yet you are left with no choice but click “ okay ” at the end . Something seems to you taken over the control of your laptop and you must surrender to its demands . What is it though ? Virus ? Malware ? Is there even a difference ? Malware , as the name suggests , is malicious software which can harm your computer / Device . It is designed to damage , steal , or in general inflict some illegitimate action on data , hosts , or networks . On the other hand , Viruses are all part of a class of malware . Thus , it doesn ’ t make much sense to differentiate malware from a virus ; it ’ s like differentiating a pistol from a weapon .
Viruses : A computer virus is a type of malware that propagates by inserting a copy of itself into and becoming part of another program .
● Viruses could cause mildly annoying effects like damaging data nevertheless also serious like causing denial-of-service ( DoS ) conditions .
● Viruses are mostly attached to an executable file . The virus will not be active or able to spread until a user runs or opens the malicious host file or program .
You may find change in locations of certain files and even complete loss of a few others however , the host program keeps functioning after it is infected by the virus . Worms : Computer worms , alike viruses , replicate functional copies of themselves and propagate to these replicas to the computer base .
● A worm enters a computer through a vulnerability in the system .
● In contrast to viruses , which require the spreading of an infected host file , worms are standalone software . They do not require a host program or human help to propagate .
It damages or stops computer functioning by multiplying and taking up all the computer memory .