What is the difference between computer virus and antivirus software?

What is the difference between computer virus and antivirus software?

Computer virus is a malicious program, which has the ability to replicate and execute itself. An antivirus software is a computer program used to scan files. It protects the computer system from viruses and other malicious softwares.

What is ordinary virus in computer?

A computer virus is a malicious software program loaded onto a user’s computer without the user’s knowledge and performs malicious actions. Description: The term ‘computer virus’ was first formally defined by Fred Cohen in 1983. Computer viruses never occur naturally. They are always induced by people.

Why is computer virus a program?

A computer virus is a type of computer program that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code. If this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be “infected” with a computer virus, a metaphor derived from biological viruses.

What is computer virus and antivirus?

Antivirus is a kind of software used to prevent, scan, detect and delete viruses from a computer. Once installed, most antivirus software runs automatically in the background to provide real-time protection against virus attacks.

What is the name of first computer virus?

The Brain Boot Sector Virus Brain, the first PC virus, began infecting 5.2″ floppy disks in 1986. As Securelist reports, it was the work of two brothers, Basit and Amjad Farooq Alvi, who ran a computer store in Pakistan.

What is computer virus example?

Examples of computer viruses Trojans – As in the myth, a Trojan is a virus that hides within a legitimate-seeming program to spread itself across networks or devices. Ransomware – Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts a user’s files and demands a ransom for its return.

What are the three types of computer viruses?

The Three Major Types of Computer Viruses

  • Macro viruses – These are the largest of the three virus types.
  • Boot record infectors – These viruses are known also as boot viruses or system viruses.
  • File infectors – These viruses target .

What are the different types of computer viruses?

Types of Computer Virus Discussed below are the different types of computer viruses: Boot Sector Virus – It is a type of virus that infects the boot sector of floppy disks or the Master Boot Record (MBR) of hard disks. The Boot sector comprises all the files which are required to start the Operating system of the computer.

How are computer worms and viruses the same?

Worms Computer worms are similar to viruses in that they replicate functional copies of themselves and can cause the same type of damage. In contrast to viruses, which require the spreading of an infected host file, worms are standalone software and do not require a host program or human help to propagate.

What kind of virus infects a program?

File infector viruses infect program files. These viruses normally infect executable code, such as .com and .exe files. The can infect other files when an infected program is run from floppy, hard drive, or from the network. Many of these viruses are memory resident.

What happens when a virus is executed on a computer?

When a virus program is executed, it replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and instead enters its own coding. This code infects a file or program and if it spreads massively, it may ultimately result in crashing of the device.