Havoc of computer viruses

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

The Northern Virginia computer firm Reliable Integration Services recently moved its headquarters from Dunn Loring to Vienna. Minutes after the company's workers plugged in their computers for the first time at the new site, their anti-virus software swatted away five viruses.

Computer users at home aren't always so fortunate.

Computer viruses and worms seem to be everywhere these days. These "malicious codes" wreak havoc on computer systems, creating problems ranging from slower system speeds to the obliteration of precious computer files.

A computer virus is a set of computer instructions, or code, that piggyback onto other programs and run simultaneously with them, often slowing them down or doing other destructive behavior.

A virus might reside in someone's computer without ever reaching out to other computers.

Worms are more insidious. A computer worm is a virus that actively scans other computers for security holes to exploit, then sends itself out when it finds some.

Viruses are spread through e-mail attachments, downloadable programs or when a program containing a virus is started.

Just last week, police arrested an 18-year-old suspected of creating the SoBig.F virus to open holes in e-mail systems, costing the country millions in lost productivity.