Types Of Network Viruses
A network virus is generally any virus that can be transmitted from one computer to the next via the computer network. A network is like a human being’s body system- when one part of the network is affected there is a high chances that other computers can get affected too and that is why steps are taken to prevent this from happening but this is not very possible in the world of today because many malicious companies and individuals make use of various types of network viruses and anti-virus software may never be enough to stop them.
One of the many types of network viruses is the browser hijacker. As the name suggests, when you browse the internet and download certain material, these can infect the computer and the virus multiplies thus affecting your entire computer system. Initially the virus attacks the software but it can also attack the hardware till it is completely useless. These mostly affect the computer system when something is downloaded from various sites online and that is why you must have a very reliable anti-virus software program before clicking on any sites to download something.
File infector viruses are those viruses that are localized in a file and affect that particular file first. It may spread later on and these are included in the many types of network viruses because if you were to send such a file to a friend, their computer would get affected too. Though the virus attacks one particular file, the transmission of the file to another person’s system could affect their computer too. They may target other files and thus making it easier for the virus to spread once the same file is sent to someone else too. That is why there types of network viruses are dangerous- they can spread easily.
Macro viruses are one of the most dangerous types of network viruses and can spread exceptionally faster than other types of viruses. They affect even productive applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel. When these are sent to someone else that person exposes his/her computer to the virus which then uses the computer to spread. Another person would send an infected file to someone without knowing it is infected and that is how the virus is then, transmitted over the network. This is one of those types of network viruses that simply cannot be stopped from spreading either.
These are just some types of network viruses and the problem nowadays is that there are so many different types of viruses that are made by companies and people who do so for malicious reasons. Softwares such as anti-spam, anti-spyware and anti-virus software are useful but they may not be enough to stop each and every type of virus. Though viruses can be avoided, they cannot be prevented from spreading any further unless a software is produced that does make this possible but this would require a lot of research, funds and constant modifications to combat various types of viruses.
