What is a virus?
What is a virus?
A virus is a program that is designed to damage or exploit the computer user. A computer program can be defined as a list of instructions that tells the computer what to do. Though computers give an illusion that they can “think” or “decide” for themselves, they contain absolutely no cognitive capacity. Simply put, a computer does exactly what it is told to do. A virus is no different. It is a computer program that does precisely what its author programmed. That may include stealing data, tracking what you do or instructing your computer to attack other computers.
What does a virus do?
A virus is a program where the author had malicious intent. Viruses tend to slow down your computer due to the usage of resources, i.e. using your memory and CPU.
How does a virus get to my computer?
It can come from many different places. You can get infected from webpages, USB drives, or even cd’s. Free games either online or on cd’s can intentionally or unintentionally be packaged with viruses or spyware. Do not install these games.
How do you protect yourself?
The best form of preventing yourself from getting infected is to have good internet security software. The software should have a real-time scanner and update itself daily. We recommend Avast, since it is free, yet has very good ratings. Some prefer to purchase a version of Avast or get McAfee or Norton, which are excellent choices as well.
