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Virus

                  A computer virus is a ‘piece of code’ or program developed to corrupt the data or program files stored
                  on the computer system. It enters to the computer without permission of the user. The user of the
                  computer may not even realise that the computer is affected by a virus. Viruses normally infect just
                  one computer, however, if the computer is a part of a network, then the computer virus may spread
                  to other systems much like a human virus which transmits from one person to another.

                       Worms

                  A computer worm is a type of malware that has the capability to replicate itself without any human
                  interaction. It consumes lots of memory space in replication. Once a computer has been infected by
                  a worm, its processing speed gets slow-down, works unexpectedly and halts other tasks. A computer
                  worm can spread itself from one computer to the other by replication process.

                       Trojan Horse

                  The purpose of a trojan horse is to conceal itself inside the software that seems legitimate. When the
                  software is installed on the system, the trojan gets activated and infects the host system.



                                                              Tech Fact

                       The term ‘trojan’ is derived from the Trojan Horse story in Greek mythology, which explains
                        how the Greeks were able to enter the fortified city of Troy by hiding their soldiers in a big
                       wooden horse given to the Trojans as a gift. The Trojans were very fond of horses and trusted
                           the gift blindly. In the night, the soldiers emerged and attacked the city from inside.




                       Spyware

                  The primary function of spyware is to snoop on a user’s activity and send back the information it
                  gathers  to  a hacker. Spyware does  not  have any infection  mechanisms.  It is  usually  dropped  by
                  trojans (and also by viruses and worms). Once dropped, it installs itself on the victim’s computer and
                  sits there silently to avoid detection.

                       Zombie

                    A zombie  works in a similar way as spyware do. Although  the infection mechanisms remain the
                  same, a zombie does not usually collect information from the computer. Instead, it just sits there
                  waiting for commands from the hacker. At times, hackers can infect tens of thousands of computers,
                  turning them into zombie machines.

                       Ransomware

                  Ransom is  the money  demanded  to  release  the hostage  kidnapped  for the  purpose.  Similarly,
                  ransomware is  malicious  software used  to  kidnap the  data  of the  host  system  by  encrypting  it.
                  The victim of the host system has to pay a huge amount of money to the attacker to get back access
                  to data.

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