The 9 Types of Computer Viruses

The 9 Types of Computer Viruses ToWatch Out For & What They DoWritten byMatt SmithJanuary 5, 2011Bookmark this articlePrintShareAds by GoogleEveryone dreads being the recipient of a computer virus, but not everyoneminds studying them. There are researchers who spend a lot of time looking into different types of computer viruses and related security threats in order to determine how they’re programmed, how they do damage, and how they spread. Personally, I find this field interesting, and I enjoy reading about the different types of viruses in existence.But even if you don’t know much care, basic knowledge about securitythreats can be useful. It’s sometimeshard to know how a risk must be dealt with before you know its consequences. With a computer virus, however, the consequence is sometimes complete loss of your dataor identity theft – so it’s best to learn sooner rather than later!1. Boot Sector VirusThe term “boot sector” is a generic name that seems to originally come from MS-DOS but is now applied generally to the boot information used by any operating system. In modern computers this is usually called the “master boot record,” and it is the first sector on a partitioned storage device.Boot sector viruses became popular because of the use of floppy disks to boot a computer. The widespread usage of the Internet and the death of the floppy has made other means of virus transmission more effective.2. Browser HijackerThis type of virus, which can spread itself in numerous ways including voluntary download, effectivelyhijackscertain browser functions, usually in the form of re-directing the user automatically to particular sites. It’s usually assumed that this tactic is designed to increase revenue from web advertisements