Introduction

Computer viruses are a significant threat in our digital world. Understanding their definition, types, and protective measures is crucial. This article provides a concise introduction to computer viruses, covering their definition, various types, and essential tips for safeguarding your digital security.

Definition of a Computer Virus

A computer virus is a malicious software program that is designed to replicate itself and infect other computers or devices. It typically attaches itself to legitimate programs, files, or documents, and when executed, it spreads throughout the system, often without the user’s knowledge or consent.

Computer viruses can cause a range of harmful effects, including corrupting or deleting files, disrupting system performance, stealing sensitive information, and even allowing unauthorized access to a computer. They can spread through various means, such as email attachments, infected websites, or file-sharing networks.

Protecting against computer viruses requires the use of reliable antivirus software, regular system updates, cautious internet browsing, and avoiding downloading files or programs from untrusted sources.

Types of Computer Viruses

There are several types of computer viruses, each with its own characteristics and methods of operation. Here are some common types:

1. File Infectors:

These viruses attach themselves to executable files, such as .exe or .dll, and infect them.

When the infected file is executed, the virus activates and may spread to other files on the system.

Examples include the notorious “Melissa” and “Sality” viruses.

2. Boot Sector Viruses:

These viruses infect the boot sector of a computer’s hard drive or other storage media.

When the infected system starts up, the virus loads into memory, allowing it to control the system’s operation.

The “Stoned” and “Michelangelo” viruses are well-known examples of boot sector viruses.

3. Macro Viruses:

Macro viruses target applications that use macros, such as Microsoft Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

They infect these files by embedding malicious code within the macro programming language.

When the infected file is opened, the macro virus executes and can perform various actions, such as corrupting files or spreading to other documents.

The “Melissa.A” and “Bablas” viruses are examples of macro viruses.

4. Polymorphic Viruses:

Polymorphic viruses have the ability to change their own code and appearance, making it difficult to detect and eradicate them.

They achieve this by using encryption, mutation engines, or other techniques to alter their signature.

Polymorphic viruses can evade traditional antivirus scans that rely on recognizing specific virus signatures.

5. Worms:

While not strictly viruses, worms are self-replicating malware that can spread independently across networks or through various communication channels.

They exploit vulnerabilities in operating systems or network protocols to propagate and can cause widespread damage.

Examples include the “Conficker” and “ILOVEYOU” worms.

Understanding these different types of computer viruses is crucial for developing effective defense strategies and implementing appropriate security measures. Regularly updating antivirus software, practicing safe browsing habits, avoiding suspicious downloads, and keeping operating systems and software up to date are essential for protecting against these malicious threats.

How To Avoid Them

To stay safe from computer viruses, even if you have limited technical knowledge, here are some practical tips:

First, install reliable antivirus software and keep it up to date. This software can detect and eliminate known viruses, providing a crucial layer of protection.

Exercise caution when dealing with email attachments and downloads. Avoid opening attachments from unknown senders or unexpected sources, and be cautious about downloading files or programs from untrusted websites or file-sharing networks.

Keep your operating system and software updated. Regularly install updates and patches to fix security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by viruses.

Be mindful of links and pop-ups. Avoid clicking on suspicious links or pop-ups, especially those asking you to install software or provide personal information. Hover over links to see their actual destination before clicking, and stick to reputable websites.

Regularly back up your data. Create backups of important files and documents to an external storage device or cloud-based service. This way, if you ever fall victim to a virus or experience data loss, you can easily restore your files.

Use strong and unique passwords for your online accounts. Avoid reusing passwords across different platforms and consider using a password manager to securely store and generate complex passwords.

By following these simple practices, you can significantly reduce the risk of computer viruses and protect your digital life. Stay informed, be cautious, and take proactive steps to ensure a safer online experience.

Get your Free Consultation

If you don’t know how to get started, need help or just don’t have the time to to it, our experts can help you out.

Call us today on 7000 8111 or Contact Us, we would love to help!

Follow Fidelity Technology Solutions on Facebook!

10 Benefits of Cloud Computing for Your Business

Cloud Computing is the use of remote servers over the Internet to store, manage and process data.
Cloud hosting provides businesses with myriad of benefits and in this post we will take a look at ten of the most important ones.

1. Cloud hosting can save your company money

An advantage of cloud computing is the reduction in hardware cost. Using cloud computing you don’t need your own hardware as everything is hosted on your provider’s servers.

So you won’t need to pay for space, power, physical security, insurance and air-conditioning or need to cover the costs of ongoing maintenance.

2. Cloud scalability and pay as you go pricing

If you you suddenly need extra computing resources to cover a short term demand for your business, there is no need to buy, install and configure an expensive new server.

With cloud computing you can increase your computing capacity instantly and only pay for the extra resources you have used.

3.  Strategic competitive advantage

Cloud Computing can give you a strategic competitive advantage over your competitors who have not yet adopted this technology since deployment time in cloud computing is zero and applications that are critical for your business’ growth and success can be instantly online.

4. High Availability

Cloud hosting decreases the possibility of server failure. The cloud’s hyper-approach design guards against everything from hard disk failure to an entire server failure, enabling mission-critical applications to be available all the time.

5. Very fast performance

Cloud computing offers high-performance servers with technology such as powerful CPUs and super fast SSD drives.

Also, load balancing is used to route client requests in a way that maximizes speed and capacity utilization. Therefore, when servers are busy the load is distributed so that no single server suffers from performance problems.

6. Get your apps running quicker

Cloud-based applications have significantly reduced the time required for successful execution. Most cloud-based applications can be used instantly after signup.

7. Increased security

With cloud hosting, your business is protected against hacking and internal data theft. Cloud providers are required to comply with a range of stringent security regulations in order to protect their customers’ data.

8. Flexible working

Staff can access files both in and out of the workplace, enabling them to work remotely or in the office. Many companies use this to give employees more flexible working conditions.

Staff can access the company’s system using web-enabled devices such as smartphones and laptops and can collaborate in real-time with others by sharing synchronized files and using online conferencing.

9. Environmental Friendly

Cloud computing reduces the overall impact on the environment.

By moving your system to the cloud you won’t need your own data center and can significantly reduce your own carbon footprint.You won’t need to power up the servers or keep them cool, you won’t even need a data center room which needs to be lit.

10. Future enabled

With the growth of the Internet of Things, the amount of big data that businesses are collecting and processing is going to exponentially increase .

Big data analytics provides vital information for the business development and those companies who have the resources to carry it out are the ones who will gain most.

Get your Free Consultation

If you don’t know where to get started, need help or just don’t have the time to to it, our experts can help you out.

Call us today on 7000 8111 , we would love to help!

HOW TO PREVENT RANSOMWARE ATTACKS

In recent years, articles of the type “Company X had to pay ‘ransom’ for their data” or “Public Organization Y can not serve the public because their information was hacked” are increasingly common.

It seems that although organizations are prepared to face different types of physical incidents such as power outages and floods, it is still common for the whole data infrastructure to be vulnerable because someone clicked on a malicious link or opened an email attachment. Due to this many organizations fight against malware and in particular against RANSOMWARE.

Given the prevalence of Windows operating systems as the target (more than 90%) of ransomware, the guide is largely oriented towards that environment.

The IT Security Guidelines is intended to be a an in Depth guide based on a checklist, to avoid infections with ransomware and, ultimately to create adequate procedures for the retrieval of information.

Ransomware, has been the protagonist threat for the last 3 years and probably, will remain to be in 2019.

It is necessary to implement a progressive security strategy in layers so that the impact for the normal functioning of an organization is as tenuous as possible.

We want to contribute and help prevent infections, in order to reduce the number of cases and combat all ransomware.

The present guidelines have been developed with the aim of providing the IT community with a simple guide to follow when dealing with the ransomware problem.

Get your Free Consultation

All the points of this guide have been summarized and written in a language as simple as possible, so that it can be read fluently and with a minimum reading time.

If you don’t know where to get started, need help or just don’t have the time to to it, our experts can help you out.

Call us today on 7000 8111 , we would love to help!