Computer viruses can be devasting, they can cause a loss in personal data and a lot of money to disinfect the infected devices, in this post, I am going to share with you some computer virus facts and debunk some myths.
Computer Viruses Facts
I’m pretty sure that most people already know this, but there are computer viruses out there that can do damage to your body.
The name ‘computer virus’ is misleading; they come in many different forms – some damaging computers, some destroying files, and these days it’s not only the hackers who create them for their benefit. Internet deaths have become more common in Asia since 2005.
There have been cases of people dying after sitting in front of a computer for too long, without taking a break – internet addiction is becoming more widespread.
In 2009, South Korea’s capital Seoul passed a bylaw to prevent the use of mobile phones and iPods after 10 pm, except in emergencies.
In 2011, parents who let their children play on the internet past midnight were fined. In 2000, a woman in China died after playing an online game for 40 hours straight.
In 2005, another Chinese man died from exhaustion after playing games online for three days with only two hours of sleep.
In 1997, a Taiwanese teenager went into a coma and died after spending 19 hours straight in internet cafés.
There have also been cases of teenagers dying after playing games continuously for days. In 2012 a South Korean couple let their three-month-old daughter starve to death while raising a virtual child online.
They only fed the baby once every two weeks and would never wake her up or take her out of the room.
These are just a few examples of the danger of technology. Technology is something that we all depend on; it’s up to us how we use it and what we abuse it for.
One day people may die from watching tv, using phones, and listening to music like in Black Mirror (if you haven’t seen this amazing show, you definitely should – it’s a Netflix original series), but as far as I know, no one has died from this yet.
In terms of computer viruses, there are protected computers all over the world that have been infected by viruses multiple times and continue to work perfectly fine afterward.
Computer viruses usually do not kill people – however, they can be used as weapons or to damage property.
Computer viruses are used by many criminals who want someone else to take the blame for their actions because it’s really difficult to trace them back.
These days, people use social engineering (where you imitate someone trustworthy to get valuable information like passwords) rather than computer viruses for security purposes.
There are several ways to prevent computer viruses – the most common is installing and updating anti-virus software and firewalls and there is also a way to remove viruses yourself if you’ve been infected.
If your computer gets infected, it might be possible for someone else to hack into your connected devices (like your smart TV) and use them to access your accounts (like your phone number or social media).
Computer viruses are no laughing matter; if you want to read more about computer security, I’d recommend reading the Four-Hour Security Lesson by GCHQ.
Most common computer Viruses
Most common computer viruses include:
1. Conflicker
Conflicker is a worm spreading using the Microsoft Windows Server Message Block (SMB) network protocol.
It was first detected in March 2008 and has been classified as a high-risk threat both by the US Government’s CND Portal and the Symantec Global Threat Center.
2. Blaster/MSBlast
Blaster is a computer worm that infects the Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 operating systems.
It propagates through network shares to execute itself on other vulnerable computers. This worm allows the W32.Blaster.
Worm to replicate without user action by exploiting a vulnerability in the Windows Local Procedure Call (LPC) interface.
3. Klez
Klez is a family of computer worms that infects Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express email address books to send themselves to other users in an infected machine’s contact list. Klez also propagates through network shares.
4. W32/Scob
W32/Scob is a family of computer worms that propagates via removable drives, network shares, and by exploiting several vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Windows operating system to copy itself onto the compromised machine.
It can download files from URLs received via IRC chat rooms. These files are also executed by the worm automatically.
5. Mydoom
Mydoom is a computer worm that propagates through email and network shares. It can send copies of itself to other users in an infected machine’s address book, forwarding itself to the addresses found there. This may result in multiple copies of itself being received at each address.
6. Bagle/Beagle
Bagle is a family of computer worms that infects Microsoft Windows operating systems, although variants exist for DOS, Linux, Sun Solaris, and Mac OS X.
The worm uses email as an attack vector to send itself to user contacts and often to random addresses.
It also propagates through network shares, removable drives, and by exploiting vulnerabilities in the Windows operating system to automatically execute itself on an infected machine.
7. Netsky
Netsky is a computer worm that initially spreads by email, which often contains a link to download it from its home page.
It then spreads to all the contacts in the infected computer’s Outlook address book. Netsky also propagates through network shares on port 139 or 445 by sending itself to all users whose login scripts it can locate. This worm copies itself to removable drives when they are accessed.
8. Mytob/Mydoom.b/GTbot
Mytob is a family of computer worms that infects Microsoft Windows operating systems. It propagates using its SMTP engine to send itself to all e-mail addresses it can locate in the infected machine, often resulting in multiple copies of itself being received at each address. Mytob/Mydoom.b also spreads by copying itself to network shares.
Conclusion
That is it, those are computer viruses facts, also we reviewed some of the most common computer viruses out there.
Computer viruses exist, and it’s good to protect them against malware using the best-updated anti-virus software.
