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This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 29 January 2025. Computer program that modifies other programs to replicate itself and spread Hex dump of the Brain virus, generally regarded as the first computer virus for the IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC) and compatibles A computer virus is a type of malware that, when executed, replicates itself by ...
The first IBM PC virus in the wild was a boot sector virus dubbed (c)Brain, created in 1986 by the Farooq Alvi brothers in Pakistan. [14] Malware distributors would trick the user into booting or running from an infected device or medium. For example, a virus could make an infected computer add autorunnable code to any USB stick plugged into it.
November: The term "virus" is re-coined by Frederick B. Cohen in describing self-replicating computer programs. In 1984 Cohen uses the phrase "computer virus" (suggested by his teacher Leonard Adleman) to describe the operation of such programs in terms of "infection". He defines a "virus" as "a program that can 'infect' other programs by ...
Computer viruses generally require a host program. [11] The virus writes its own code into the host program. When the program runs, the written virus program is executed first, causing infection and damage. A worm does not need a host program, as it is an independent program or code chunk.
An example of a macro virus is the Melissa virus which appeared in March 1999. When a user opens a Microsoft Word document containing the Melissa virus, their computer becomes infected. The virus then sends itself by email to the first 50 people in the person's address book. This made the virus replicate at a fast rate. [4]
Cohen used the term "computer virus" to describe programs that: "affect other computer programs by modifying them in such a way as to include a (possibly evolved) copy of itself." [11] (note that a more recent definition of computer virus has been given by the Hungarian security researcher Péter Szőr: "a code that recursively replicates a ...
Computer fraud is the act of using a computer to take or alter electronic data, or to gain unlawful use of a computer or system. [9] Computer fraud that involves the use of the internet is also called internet fraud. The legal definition of computer fraud varies by jurisdiction, but typically involves accessing a computer without permission or ...
Fileless malware is a variant of computer related malicious software that exists exclusively as a computer memory-based artifact i.e. in RAM.It does not write any part of its activity to the computer's hard drive, thus increasing its ability to evade antivirus software that incorporate file-based whitelisting, signature detection, hardware verification, pattern-analysis, time-stamping, etc ...