A Computer Virus is nothing but a harmful computer program that can damage, destroy and infect useful files and programs in your computer. This can make your system or computer behave in abnormal ways. The recent research carried on by many software security firms has proved time and again that hackers are using sophisticated viruses to infect computers and that the number of such viruses is on the rise. The Digital age in which we live today is very dynamic; it changes faster than we anticipate. Technology has helped us accelerate to our future and make this world a better place. But the very computer systems that are helping humans are constantly under threat by hackers. By destroying the computer network using different viruses and malware attacks hackers have proved that no one is secure, not even the digital system.
Some of the different types of threats are mentioned below.
1. WORMS: These are one of the most dangerous threats to computer systems because unlike the virus humans need not interact or install it. Rather, it can copy itself automatically on to the omputer system. This makes it deadly and havoc causing.
2. TROJAN: Known for their deadly attack on any system rendering them useless, Trojan has been categorically termed as one of the worst or rather greatest threat to computer systems and networks. Trojans are mostly spread through e-mail attachments; they can also infect your computer if you visit unsecured websites.
3. EMAIL SCAM: This threat came to limelight when users started getting tons of mails asking for their confidential information and money for some dubious product and services. This is also called as 419 scams or more commonly Nigerian Scam. Many innocent people around the world have fallen prey to such scams and lost millions of dollars.
4. PHISHING: This is a scam in which users are made to believe that they are dealing with some genuine websites like bank websites, e-commerce websites where their confidential data like Name, e-mail Id, Phone number, Bank account detail, credit card and debit card number, etc, are asked for when instead their data is collected by hackers and fraudsters. This makes users vulnerable and there is high probability of the data getting misused by the hackers or anti-social elements.
5. SPYWARE: Spyware prys on your privacy without your permission. Spyware installs in your system and tracks your web movements by keeping a track of the websites you visited, stuff you downloaded, the keystore, passwords etc.
6. SCAREWARE: This is also a threat that unnecessarily scares you into installing malware and other unwanted software by showing you a pop-up message and telling you to click on it.
7. ROOTKIT: As the name suggests this threat gives unauthorized administrative-level access to hackers. Once the hackers get inside your system, they get more control and make the system more vulnerable.
8. BOTNET: Using this threat, hackers can gain remote access of your computer system and can use it for criminal activities, identity theft, extortion and sending spam mail on your behalf. This can put user in legal trouble.
9. SPAM: This is something every user who has a mail box can relate to. It is observed that on an average users receive more than 85% of spam mail in his or her inbox.
