Viruses

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Viruses (Hardcopy of Our Report) Presented by: Erick Posadas & Jazmyn Santiago of BSIT-1A =) Definitions of Viruses: A computer virus is a program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes.  All computer viruses are man-made. These are small software programs that are designed to spread from one computer to another and to interfere with computer operation. –Microsoft  Some viruses can duplicate themselves, attach themselves to programs, and travel across networks. What are the Main Causes of Viruses? Tell me. 1. Email attachments: The golden rule is that if you don’t know what an attachment is, don’t open it. 2. Rogue Websites. They often install adware bugs that will cause a flurry of pop ups to appear on your screen. 3. Networks. If your computer is connected to a home network or if your work computer is part of a larger network, you may find yourself with an infection through no fault of your own. 4. Infected Boot disks. Always know the origin of any disk you put into your drive. 5. Phishing Scheme. This starts when you receive an email from a website claiming to be your bank or credit card company. 6. Infected Software. Too many rogue websites intentionally infect their freeware (like Kazaa) with trojan viruses so that you unknowingly infect your computer every time you download a free game or piece of software. 7. Hackers. Not only did most people not have antivirus protection and firewalls that could stop incoming attacks, most people didn’t even know what they were. 8. Instant Messaging. These programs are often targets of hackers who see an easy way to trick people into clicking links that lead them to rogue websites. 9. From Mobile Devices/Memory Cards & Pen/Flash Drives. Keep your anti virus software up to date at all times and you should be able to wrestle control back from any Internet bug. How Would I Know if my Computer Has Been Infected?
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Your computer runs more slowly than normal Your computer stops responding or freezes often Your computer crashes and restarts every few minutes

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Your computer restarts on its own and then fails to run normally Applications on your computer don't work correctly Disks or disk drives are inaccessible You can't print correctly You see unusual error messages

Difference of Worms, Trojan Horse, and Other Malicous Softwares: What Is a Worm? A worm is similar to a virus by 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 human action. It is a standalone program that doesn’t require user intervention to spread. Worms don’t infect existing files – they spread copies of themselves instead. What Is a Trojan horse? A Trojan Horse is full of as much trickery as the mythological Trojan Horse it was named after. The Trojan Horse, at first glance will appear to be useful software but will actually do damage once installed or run on your computer. Instead of being well-behaved software, a trojan opens a backdoor on your system. What Are Blended Threats? Added into the mix, we also have what is called a blended threat. A blended threat is a more sophisticated attack that bundles some of the worst aspects of viruses, worms, Trojan horses and malicious code into one single threat. Spyware – Spyware spies on you. Spyware is generally designed to make money for its creators. Some antivirus programs don’t detect and remove this sort of software, butWindows Defender, built into Windows 7, does. Scareware – Scareware, also known as crimeware, often appears as a fake antivirus alert on a web page. This holds your system hostage until you pay or remove it. Here are my top 5 Worms, Trojans, or Viruses.
1. Melissa:

A macro virus named after a Miami stripper, was so effective in 1999 that the tidal wave of email traffic it generated caused the likes of Intel and Microsoft to shut down their email servers. The virus contained a Word document labeled List.DOC as an attachment to an email allowing access to porn sites. 2. The Anna Kournikova Virus: This computer virus was attributed to a Dutch programmer Jan de Wit on February 11, 2001. The virus was designed to trick a recipient into opening a message by suggesting that it contained a picture of the lovely Anna Kournikova, instead the recipient triggered a malicious program. 3. MyDoom: The reason that MyDoom was effective was that the recipient would receive an email warning of delivery failure – a message we have all seen at one time or another. The message prompted the recipient to investigate thus triggering the worm. MyDoom contained the text “andy; I’m just doing my job, nothing personal, sorry,”

which led many to believe that the virus was constructed for a fee for a spammer, though this also was not confirmed. 4. Sasser & Netsky: Easily one of the most famous and prolific variants of computer worms, famous for effectiveness and the fact that it was authored by an 18 year-old German, Sven Jaschan, who confessed to having written these and other worms. 5. 2007 Storm Worm: Though I did consider the 1988 Morris worm, regarded as the first worm, I had to go with the 2007 Storm worm as the 5th to include. Known by many names the Storm Worm is a backdoor Trojan that affects Microsoft based computers.

Other Viruses: Chernobyl Virus Chernobyl first appeared in 1998. This was considered one of the worst virus types because it could remain undetected in your computer's memory until the damage was done. Chernobyl was responsible for over $20 billion in damages. MSBlast After an announcement from Microsoft in 2003 about a possible vulnerability, MSBlast was launched to exploit it. This worm displayed a message on infected machines stating the computer would shut down in after a few minutes. Hundreds of thousands of computers were infected and caused over $2 billion in damages. Sobig.F Following on the heels of Blaster, or MSBlast, in 2003, Sobig.F caused Internet gateways and email servers to crash. This resulted in the slowing of the entire Internet. Stuxnet (2009-2010) The arrival of Stuxnet was like a cartoon villain come to life: it was the first computer virus designed specifically to cause damage in the real, as opposed to virtual, world. Specifically, Stuxnet was designed to damage machinery at Iran’s uranium enr ichment facility in Natanz. Conficker Virus (2009)In 2009, a new computer worm crawled its way into millions of Windowsbased PCs around the world, creating a massive botnet army of remotely controlled computers capable of stealing financial data and other information. At its height, the Conficker worm infected millions of computers, leading anti-virus researchers to call it the “super bug,” or “super worm.” agent.btz (2008) This piece of malware’s claim to fame is that it temporarily forced the Pentagon to issue a blanket ban on thumb drives and even contributed to the creation of an entirely new military department, U.S. Cyber Command.

Zeus (2007) There is no shortage of malware kits that target personal information, but Zeus has become the go-to tool for many of today’s cyber criminals and is readily available for sale in the cyber crime underworld. PoisonIvy (2005) PoisonIvy is a computer security nightmare; it allows the attacker to secretly control the infected user’s computer. Malware like PoisonIvy is known as a “remote access trojan,” because it provides full control to the perpetrator through a backdoor. Fizzer (2003) By 2003, many worms were spreading over e-mail, but Fizzer was an entirely new creature. “What makes Fizzer stand out is that it's the first instance of a worm created for financial gain,” says Roel Schouwenberg, a senior researcher at Kaspersky, an anti -virus company. “Computers infected with Fizzer started sending out pharmacy spam.” Slammer 2003- Slammer works by releasing a deluge of network packets, units of data transmitted over the Internet, bringing the Internet on many servers to a near screeching halt. Code Red (2001) Compared to modern malware, Code Red seems like an almost kinder, gentler version of a threat. But when it swept across computers worldwide in 2001, it caught security experts off guard by exploiting a flaw in Microsoft Internet Information Server. Infected computers received a message on their modified websites stating "Welcome to http://www.worm.com! Hacked by the Chinese!" After a short period, denial of service attacks were launched by the virus.

How do I remove a computer virus? If your computer is infected with a virus, you'll want to remove it as quickly as possible. A fast way to check for viruses is to use an online scanner, such as the Microsoft Safety Scanner. The scanner is a free online service that helps you identify and remove viruses, clean up your hard disk, and generally improve your computer's performance. If you can't connect to the Internet If you can't get to the Microsoft Safety Scanner online, try restarting your computer in safe mode with networking enabled. To restart in Safe Mode with networking enabled Restart your computer. When you see the computer manufacturer's logo, repeatedly press the F8 key until the Advanced Boot Options screen appears. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight Safe Mode with Networking, and then press Enter. Log on to your computer with a user account that has administrator rights. Follow the steps above to run the Microsoft Safety Scanner. Recovery and prevention

After the virus is removed, you might need to reinstall some software or restore lost information. Doing regular backups on your files can help you avoid data loss if your computer becomes infected again. If you haven't kept backups in the past, we recommend that you start now. OR In Five Easy Methods: 1. Isolate the drive Many rootkit and Trojan threats are masters of disguise that hide from the operating system as soon as or before Windows starts. I find that even the best antivirus and antispyware tools -includingAVG Anti-Virus Professional, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, andSuperAntiSpyware -sometimes struggle to remove such entrenched infections. 2. Remove temporary files While the drive is still slaved, browse to all users' temporary files. These are typically found within the C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Local Settings\Temp directory within Windows XP or the C:\Users\Username\App Data\Local\Temp folder within Windows Vista. Delete everything within the temporary folders; many threats hide there seeking to regenerate upon system startup. With the drive still slaved, it's much easier to eliminate these offending files. Return drive and repeat scans Once you run a complete antivirus scan and execute two full antispyware scans using two current, recently updated and different antispyware applications (removing all found infections), return the hard disk to the system. Then, run the same scans again. 4. Test the system Once you finish the previous three steps, it's tempting to think a system is good to go but don't make that mistake. Boot it up, open the Web browser, and immediately delete all offline files and cookies. Next, go to the Internet Explorer Connection settings (Tools | Internet Options and select the Connections tab within Internet Explorer) to confirm that a malicious program didn't change a system's default proxy or LAN connection settings. Correct any issues you find and ensure settings match those required on your network or the client's network. 5. Dig deeper on remaining infections If any infection remnants remain, such as redirected searches or blocked access to specific Web sites, try determining the filename for the active process causing the trouble. Trend Micro's HijackThis, Microsoft's Process Explorer, and Windows' native Microsoft System Configuration Utility (Start | Run and typemsconfig) are excellent utilities for helping locate offending processes. If necessary, search the registry for entries for an offending executable and remove all incidents. Then reboot the system and try again. Top Antiviruses:

avast! Free Antivirus 8 AVAST Software's avast! Free Antivirus 8 most certainly deserves to be on any list of the best free antivirus programs. avast! Free Antivirus has fully functioning antivirus and antispyware engines protecting your PC from threats from the Internet, your files, emails, and even instant messages. AVG Anti-Virus Free 2013 Anti-Virus Free 2013 from AVG is one of the best free antivirus software tools available and is probably my personal favorite. AVG Anti-Virus Free is a full-fledged antivirus and antispyware tool, includes an email scanner, link scanner, scheduled scanning options, automatic updates, and more. Avira Free AntiVirus 2013 Avira Free AntiVirus 2013 protects you from viruses, Trojans, worms, spyware, adware, and various other kinds of malware, making it a fully functional antimalware tool and certainly one of the best free antivirus programs. Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition is on par with any of the arguably better-known free antivirus programs in my list. Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition is incredibly easy to setup and configure, uses very little system resources (it won't slow down your computer), and doesn't constantly suggest that you upgrade to their premium offerings. Comodo Antivirus 6 Comodo Antivirus 6 from Comodo Security Solutions is another excellent program, easily one of the best free antivirus options out there. Comodo Antivirus 6 protects you from several threat sources, just as most of the other free antivirus programs on this list do. Immunet FREE Antivirus 3 Immunet FREE Antivirus 3 is a unique, cloud-based antivirus program, much like Panda Cloud Antivirus and Kingsoft Antivirus. Immunet FREE Antivirus 3 protects your computer from bots, worms, viruses, Trojans, keyloggers, and spyware.

Kingsoft Antivirus 2012

Kingsoft Antivirus 2012 is a cloud-based antivirus program like Panda Cloud Antivirus and Immunet FREE Antivirus. Kingsoft Antivirus keeps an eye out for malware locally, when downloading files, while chatting on IM, and more. Microsoft Security Essentials Security Essentials from Microsoft is definitely one of the best free antivirus programs available right now. Microsoft is relatively new to the antivirus game but don't let that scare you Security Essentials is a fantastic antivirus program that protects you from all sorts of malware, updates automatically, and is incredibly easy to use. Panda Cloud Antivirus Free 2 Panda Cloud Antivirus Free 2 protects you from several kinds of malware threats - viruses, worms, Trojans, adware, and more - just like all the other free antivirus programs in this list. FortiClient 5 FortiClient is an antivirus, web filtering, firewall, parental control, optimization, (and then some) program that's powerful enough for a business to use. It's more accurately referred to as a "threat management" tool. “I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image.” ― Stephen Hawking “Viruses don’t just happen; people write them deliberately. So check, double-check, triple check in clicking things on your computer. Have a healthy computer! :)” –Jazmyn & Erick

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