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hi ..all technology news and discussion over to this thread...

VIRUS stands for Vital information resources under siege

So someone has mentioned the term 'Computer Virus' and you're wondering what it means? Put simply a Computer Virus is a program that attaches itself to other programs on your system without your consent.

To look at it in a bit more depth requires a greater understanding of Malware as a whole, when the average user refers to a computer virus they may actually be referring to worms, Trojan Horses, rootkits, spyware or an actual virus. You may also hear users refer to them by the incorrect plural time virii (Virii is actually an incorrect plural Latin term for men) what they actually mean is Viruses. Knowing both terms can however be beneficial when trying to find information on a virus. However you refer to any of the above, they all come under the category Malware, which is simply a term for software that does something unwanted.

Spyware is generally referred to separately from Viruses etc, because it's behaviour is generally completely different, although some Trojan Horses and Viruses will act as spyware.

Most malware can be avoided by running an Anti-Virus (AV) program, but it is important to keep the virus definitions up to date. There are numerous available online with prices ranging from free to 400+.

Now that the lines of distinction are somewhat blurred, lets take a look at each of these types of malware.

A true computer virus acts much like that of a biological virus, replicating itself with no regard for the impact upon its host (in this case your computer) adding it's own little bit of code to any executable files it finds, this can be a very slow process or an almost instantaneous process. Some will perform a very specific action (The Vampire subclass of Virus will gradually remove characters from your screen) whilst some exist simply to exist. Many viruses are written by hobbyists, mainly as a proof of concept, or to show that they can. The true aim of a virus for most authors is to write a bit of code that can hide itself from process designed specifically to look for malware, it's a challenging if somewhat unethical area of programming.

When a virus (or any other malware for that matter) is released, it is known as being 'in the wild.' Many viruses that are written are never let into the wild, they are simply written as a challenge for the programmer, tested and then removed. Of course, there are those that are unethical enough to let their code loose onto the Internet. On occassion a piece of code will not behave as expected and may escape into the wild without the programmer ever planning to release it.

As mentioned before, many viruses are written as a proof of concept. For example the first Linux virus seen in the wild - Bliss - simply attached itself to executable files to prove that it could, and even included an uninstaller!

Viruses tend not to propogate between different computer systems very effectively, and those that do are often referred to as worms.

Sadly, there are those with ill intent that write viruses which is probably how you have come to hear the term.

Trojan Horses are programs that pretend to be something they are not, and then perform their designed action. This is a common way of downloading a virus onto a users computer, and also leads to Spyware infections, Keyloggers etc. Generally a program will advertise free porn, Free Gamecodes or cheats but once run by the user will instead open backdoors (an access point into your system for all and sundry to log onto your computer for). Of more concern is the recent trial of a suspected pedophile where it was found that malware had created a child pornography server on the suspects computer without his knowledge. Is it just a very good defence, or is it true? Either way the very concept of that happening is an unthinkable development in the way that malware affects us.

The best way to avoid trojan horses is to scan every program before you run it, and avoid programs that promise to give you something for free.

Worms are essentially self propagating viruses, they behave in the same sort of manner but with added functionality. Many will email themselves to everyone in your contacts, inviting the receipient to look at a photo or watch a movie. An example of this would be the Iloveyou virus which offered users a naked picture of Anna Kournikova.

These can largely be avoided by being very, very careful which attachments you open, confirm with the sender that they actually sent it and scan it with you AV before opening.

For those interested, an Anti-Virus scanner detects viruses by looking for the signature left by a virus on an executable program. Because the virus adds itself to a program, this signature will always be there, the signature being a construct of code common to the virus. However viruses can be programmed to adapt, or be manually adapted by the author which is why you hear of Strain A of xxx virus, it is simply the same virus written to have a slightly different behaviour and/or signature.

This article was a very brief look at viruses and also touched upon other forms of malware, hopefully it has been of benefit to you. Although a dark world, the world of Viruses is very interesting, so consider doing some additional research into exactly what computer viruses do, and the motivation behind the writing of said code. The more you know about viruses as a whole, the easier you will find it to detect when your computer has contracted the electronic equivalent of Hepatitis and the more confident you will be in disinfecting it.

Despite the concerns about computer viruses, most Americans are still unsure of how to protect their personal information online. Lot of them store most of their critical data and personal information online. These computer viruses carry increased threats to their daily lives. In fact, 49 percent of Americans with a personal computer would be more likely to safeguard themselves from a potential virus on their PC than a human virus, such as the H1N1 flu, reports a new research commissioned by internet security provider BitDefender and conducted by independent research firm Kelton Research.



While Americans continue to place ever-increasing importance on their online safety, the survey found that only 36 percent are confident they would know the correct course of action if their computer was infected by a virus. Despite low awareness about computer security, most do know how to take advantage of basic antivirus software. Seventy four percent run a scan when they hear about a computer virus spreading, 66 percent check to make sure that their antivirus software is up to date, and 25 percent buy such software if they don't already have it installed.

Research also found that while 65 percent of Americans are more cautious about the links and files they open after hearing about a new virus, many are still not taking appropriate steps to safeguard their online data. "While computer viruses have always posed a significant threat to consumers, this study confirms our view that Americans are now valuing their 'digital lives' more than ever before. Our lives revolve around computers and the Web, and in order to keep private information safe there needs to be more education around basic safety practices," said Catalin Cosoi, Senior Researcher at BitDefender.

A series of recent reports by Internet security companies found India has become the top spam-producing nation.

After tracking over 3 million spam messages for the week ending June 13, ICSA Labs found the maximum number, 424,224 — or 14 per cent — originated from India. The second biggest source was Russia with 11.5 per cent. While analysts have questioned the fact that China does not figure in that Top 10 list, there is consensus that India is, at the very least, among the top three nations spewing spam.

Similarly, according to the statistics featured by Project Honey Pot, the top country where spam servers are located is India, accounting for 16.9 per cent, with Brazil a distant second at 8.7 per cent. The share of countries where spam has traditionally been known to originate from, like China, has dropped, though that country still remains at Number One in Project Honey Pot’s all time list.

ICSA Labs is a US-based security firm with an anti-computer virus and spam product testing and certification facility. Project Honey Pot is a network that works with US law enforcement agencies, identifying spammers and spambots.

These reports have been corroborated by experts in the field. Dave Rand, TrendMicro’s Chief Technology Officer for Content Security, said, “It’s a fact, there are more and more compromised computers in India.”

Rand pointed out within just the last six months, his firm had detected nearly “100,000 new infected computers on one network alone.” He explained the “bad guys” or spammers tried to compromise computers with vulnerabilities and India had become a major target because “there’s not a lot of effective defence at the consumer level.”

While the lack of safeguards is part of the attraction, broadband becoming more widespread also has appeal for spammers. “As people get hi-speed connectivity, their ability to get infected gets amplified,” Rand said.

India did not even figure in TrendMicro top 10 countries by spam volume for the year 2008 but jumped to number five by the third quarter of 2009.

The “bad guys” are looking for new terrain since countries like China and the United States have ramped up security.

Malicious hackers attacked Google's YouTube on Sunday, exploiting a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability on the ultra-popular video sharing site, hitting primarily sections where users post comments.

"Comments were temporarily hidden by default within an hour [of discovering the problem], and we released a complete fix for the issue in about two hours. We’re continuing to study the vulnerability to help prevent similar issues in the future," a Google spokesman said via e-mail.

The attack potentially put at risk YouTube cookies of users who visited a compromised page, but it couldn't be used to access their Google accounts, the spokesman said. As a precaution, YouTube users should log out of their account and log back in again.

The attackers apparently targeted singer Justin Bieber, incorporating code into YouTube pages devoted to him so that visitors saw tasteless messages pop up about the teen star, and were also redirected to external sites with adult content.

An industry source familiar with the situation said that while the attack itself didn't involve malware infections, such a risk is inherent whenever users visit any Web page, such as the ones attackers redirected users to. It's not clear if those landing pages contained malware, but most up-to-date anti-virus software is designed to protect against those threats, this person said.

YouTube is by far the most popular video uploading and sharing site. In May, U.S. residents watched 14.6 billion video clips at Google sites, mostly at YouTube. which is about 43 percent of all clips watched online that month, according to comScore.

On a day when the U.S. marks its independence with fireworks shows, social media sites like Twitter and Facebook lit up on Sunday morning with reports from thousands of individuals who noticed the YouTube hack.

A separate stream of postings on social media sites focuses on whether Apple's iTunes App Store may have been compromised by a rogue developer and whether purchases may have been made without victims' permission using their credit cards on file.

People posting about the Apple issue are suggesting that App Store customers check for any unusual activity on their accounts.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from IDG News Service.

sweet

thanks for the awareness...........
be it noobs or experts...... no one is secure!

Matzz wrote:

thanks for the awareness...........
be it noobs or experts...... no one is secure!

hmm.... china proved that

jan vayichilla samayam eduukkum

sweetword wrote:

Matzz wrote:

thanks for the awareness...........
be it noobs or experts...... no one is secure!

hmm.... china proved that

they are gud in ethical hacking

dolphin wrote:

jan vayichilla samayam eduukkum

araa jan

Matzz wrote:

sweetword wrote:

Matzz wrote:

thanks for the awareness...........
be it noobs or experts...... no one is secure!

hmm.... china proved that

they are gud in ethical hacking

ethical or unethical....hacking is a crime under laws

sweetword wrote:

dolphin wrote:

jan vayichilla samayam eduukkum

araa jan

adiyan, guroooo!


@ sweettetta pls consider ur avtar . blurr ayirikkunnu

avtar shopil adipoli menon ondarunnu

sweetword wrote:

Matzz wrote:

sweetword wrote:

Matzz wrote:

thanks for the awareness...........
be it noobs or experts...... no one is secure!

hmm.... china proved that

they are gud in ethical hacking

ethical or unethical....hacking is a crime under laws

athe athe!

dolphin wrote:

sweetword wrote:

dolphin wrote:

jan vayichilla samayam eduukkum

araa jan

adiyan, guroooo!


@ sweettetta pls consider ur avtar . blurr ayirikkunnu

avtar shopil adipoli menon ondarunnu

athevidaaa

avatar gallery request thread

sweetword wrote:

dolphin wrote:

sweetword wrote:

dolphin wrote:

jan vayichilla samayam eduukkum

araa jan

adiyan, guroooo!


@ sweettetta pls consider ur avtar . blurr ayirikkunnu

avtar shopil adipoli menon ondarunnu

athevidaaa

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

sweetword wrote:

dolphin wrote:

jan vayichilla samayam eduukkum

araa jan

charlie chaplin

Matzz wrote:

sweetword wrote:

dolphin wrote:

jan vayichilla samayam eduukkum

araa jan

charlie chaplin

sweettettaaaaaaaaaaa

Matzz wrote:

avatar gallery request thread

i dint see it till now

dolphin wrote:

sweetword wrote:

dolphin wrote:

sweetword wrote:

dolphin wrote:

jan vayichilla samayam eduukkum

araa jan

adiyan, guroooo!


@ sweettetta pls consider ur avtar . blurr ayirikkunnu

avtar shopil adipoli menon ondarunnu

athevidaaa

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

sweetword wrote:

Matzz wrote:

avatar gallery request thread

i dint see it till now

ee photam pinne evitunna kittiye

woow...........i like this avatar...sweet bhai.. keep it up.
it was me who posted that avatar. pls say thanks to me.

sweetword wrote:

dolphin wrote:

sweetword wrote:

dolphin wrote:

sweetword wrote:

dolphin wrote:

jan vayichilla samayam eduukkum

araa jan

adiyan, guroooo!


@ sweettetta pls consider ur avtar . blurr ayirikkunnu

avtar shopil adipoli menon ondarunnu

athevidaaa

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]