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    Effects of Virus

                       Files become corrupted or the content of the files gets deleted.
                       A virus can damage or destroy the operating system.
                       A virus can reduce the memory space.

                     Types of Computer Virus
                     There are various types of computer viruses that infect the computer in different ways. The
                     most commonly known categories of computer viruses are:

                     Program File Virus
                     A Program file virus, also known as a file-infecting virus, is a type of computer virus
                     that targets and infects executable files (such as .exe, .com, .sys, etc.). When an infected

                     program file is run, the virus code is also executed, which can then spread to other files,
                     corrupt them, or make them unusable.

                     Boot Sector Virus
                     A Boot sector virus is a type of computer virus that infects the boot sector of storage
                     devices like hard disks, floppy disks, or USB drives. It specifically targets the Master Boot
                     Record (MBR) or the boot sector, which is responsible for loading the operating system
                     during the startup process. Once the system is infected, the virus can spread to other

                     disks that are used with the infected computer. The most commonly known boot sector
                     viruses are Michelangelo and Stoned.

                     Macro Virus
                     A Macro virus is a type of virus that targets and infects documents, particularly files that
                     use macros, such as Microsoft Word or Excel files. When a user opens an infected document,
                     the macro virus is executed, potentially spreading to other documents and affecting the
                     system. The virus may then infect other files by embedding its malicious code into macros
                     within the user's documents. Additionally, some macro viruses do send themselves via

                     email by automatically attaching to messages and sending them to contacts in the user's
                     address book, thus spreading further. Melissa and Bablas are the most commonly known
                     macro viruses.

                     E-mail Virus
                     An E-mail virus is a type of computer virus that transmits from one computer to another
                     through e-mail messages. Some e-mail viruses can also be transmitted as an infected
                     attachment with the e-mail message. The virus can become active when the recipient

                     opens  the  infected  email  attachment  or sometimes  even clicks  on  a  malicious  link.  It
                     sounds very simple but an e-mail virus can erase files, destroy information and cause
                     computer crashes.

                                                                                             E-mail and Malware Safety  71

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