Free Copmputer Security tutorials

The computer technology has become an important part of life for everyone as it is believed to be helpful to us in different aspects. There are also problems that we have to fix so that we can proceed benefiting from this technology. The most common problem is Malware, the computer programs built to get control of computer systems, destroy data and eventually harm everything associated to the computer system including programs, files, etc.

Malware is the short term for Malicious Software. There are a lot of Malware, among which are Virus, Trojan Horses, and Worms. All of these Malware are very dangerous and harmful for your PC.

A Virus is a program that is capable of spreading from computer to computer erasing or corrupting data and even disturbs users by making changes to their computer systems. You can determine that your file has been erased or damaged by a virus because when you attempt opening it, you receive a message prompting you to choose the program you want to open that file with.

Viruses as I said before are programs, thus are created by human beings for stealing people’s data or other similar reasons. Viruses are transferred from one computer to another through the Electronic Mails (E-mails), removable data storage devices and surfing or browsing the Web/Internet. Most of Viruses attach themselves to the files and can copy themselves to any part within the Operating System.

The following are the most common viruses:-

Browser Hijacker
Direct Action Virus
File infector virus
Boot Sector Virus
Macro Virus
Multipartite Virus
Resident Virus
Polymorphic Virus

A Trojan horse is a Malware that acts as a harmless and common system program so that it can fetch user’s information/details easily, thus the writer of that program can use the details (user names or ID and Passwords) for getting control of the user’s computer and its data/information. The Trojan horse is transmitted through downloads from the Internet and not itself like worms and viruses do.

The Worm is the malicious software that replicates itself from system to system causing damages to data and security as equally as virus can do. A worm can spread from computer to computer through different transport mechanisms i.e. E-mails sharing, Internet browsing and other data transmission mechanisms.