Viruses are not the only ones that are harmful to our computers. In fact, there are other malicious programs out there waiting to destroy (Feudo 1922, pp.2-6). Although they are definitely harmful, they are not the same as viruses by nature in spite of lots of confusion among the public. In fact, both Trojan horse and worm programs cannot add or delete the infected program files while viruses can definitely do so.
Trojan Horse
This name derived from Greek Legend in which a large wooden horse was sent into the city of Troy as a present .As a result, it turned out that soldiers were stored inside the horse for counter attack and to save the beautiful Helen. Thus, Trojan Horse programs appear to work in one useful way but with other hidden functions which are mostly detrimental, such as reformatting the hard drive. Trojans are not viruses since they do not replicate, but they can be just as destructive. They are sometimes used as hacker tools to gain access to unauthorized information.
Thus they are programs that neither replicate nor copy themselves, but do damage or compromise the security of the computer. Typically they rely on someone emailing them to you, they do not email themselves, and they may arrive in the form of a joke program or software of some sort.
Worms
It can be defined as a program replicating itself as much as possible, which uses up computers’ memory. Unlike computer virus, a host is not essential to their spreading. It makes copies of itself, for example from one disk drive to another, or by copying itself using email or some other transport mechanism. It may do damage and compromise the security of the computer. It may arrive in the form of a joke program or software of some sort.
Logic Bomb
The logic bomb is similar to the Trojan Horse in its programming and ability to damage data, but has a built-in timing device so that it will go off at a particular moment. Viruses may carry logic bombs to activate destructions when a certain condition is met. The delay of the bomb allows the virus to spread unnoticed, and show its side-effect after it has reproduced extensively. Also, the timing of the big bang is to do maximum damage at the most opportune moment, so that the logic bomb is a favored device for revenge and for random demands by someone.
Virus Hoaxes
Virus hoaxes are not viruses but fake warning messages about something nuisance that distribute around the network all over the world Although it is not destuctive in itself, it did bring along similar harmful results. In general, it is nothing more than a psychological trap and its aim is to spread to as many people as possible. Yet, there have been cases that real viruses are embedded inside the hoax messages so it’s always better be cautious about anything received from unreliable sources. After all, it is better be paranoid than sorry afterwards. If you receive something suspicious, just delete them and don’t even be tempted to open it! They are just total craps and you simply don’t want to help them to propagate, right?
Hoaxes are fabricated tales that have nevertheless caused concern among those unfamiliar with them. Scares are reports, which may have some truth behind them, but which often become greatly exaggerated Virus hoaxes are false reports about non-existent viruses, often claiming to do impossible things. Unfortunately some recipients occasionally believe a hoax to be a true virus warning and may take drastic action such as shutting down their network.
Typically, hoaxes are emails, which describe a dangerous new undetectable virus, usually using bogus technical terms. Hoaxes often ask you to avoid reading or downloading emails that have a particular subject.
Although no official research has been done on the subject, it is estimated that hoaxes can cost you even more than a genuine virus incident. After all, no anti-virus will detect hoaxes because they aren't viruses. Some companies panic when they receive a hoax virus warning and assume the worst - making the situation much worse.
The best way to reduce the cost of virus hoaxes is to keep yourself informed by visiting the appropriate websites for current updates, e.g. Virus Information Center
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