ANTIVIRUS PROGRAM & ITS USAGE

Presented by: Preet Shah 36

CONTENTS:

What is Computer virus Types of viruses Introduction to Antivirus Program How an Antivirus works What to look when selecting an Antivirus software Configuring your antivirus software What to do when suspecting virus attack General precautions you should take

WHAT IS A COMPUTER VIRUS?

A computer virus is a small program written to alter the way a computer operates, without the permission or knowledge of the user. With an ability to replicate itself, thus continuing to spread. Also, known as Malicious Software, a program that can cause damage to a computer. The computer viruses can damage or corrupt data, modify existing data, or degrade the performance of the system by utilising resources such as memory or
disk space.

CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTER VIRUSES:

Boot sector virus File infector virus Multipartite virus Macro virus

BOOT SECTOR VIRUS

Boot sector viruses generally hide in the boot sector, either in the bootable disk or the hard drive. It attaches itself to the first part of the hard disk that is read by the computer upon boot up. These viruses are spread rapidly by floppy disks and not on CDROMs. Once copied to the memory, any floppy disks that are not write protected will become infected when the floppy disk is accessed. Error message Invalid system disk E.g. Form, Disk Killer, Michelangelo, Stoned.

FILE INFECTOR VIRUS

File infector viruses infect program files. Normally infect executable code, such as .COM, .SYS, .BAT and .EXE files. They can infect other files when an infected program is run from floppy, hard drive, or from the network. Many of these viruses are memory resident. After memory becomes infected, any uninfected executable file that runs becomes infected. E.g. Snow.A, Jerusalem, Cascade.

MULTIPARTITE VIRUS

Multipartite (also known as polypartite) viruses infect both boot records and program files. These are particularly difficult to repair. If the boot area is cleaned, the files are not, the boot area will be reinfected. The same holds true for cleaning infected files. If the virus is not removed from the boot area, any files that you have cleaned will be reinfected. E.g. One_Half, Emperor, Anthrax, Tequilla.

MACRO VIRUS

Macro are mini-programs which make it possible to automate series of operations so that they are performed as a single action, thereby saving the user from having to carry them out one by one. Macro viruses infect files that are created using certain applications or programs that contain macros. They are platform-independent since the virus itself are written in language of the application and not the operating system. They infect documents created from Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access files. E.g.W97M.Melissa, Bablas, WM.NiceDay, W97M.Groov.

IN ADDITION TO COMPUTER VIRUSES, THERE ARE TWO MORE TYPES OF MALICIOUS SOFTWARE. THESE ARE :

Worms and Trojans

COMPUTER WORMS

Worms are programs that replicate themselves from system to system without the use of a host file. The worms are spread through networks like LAN, WAN and also through Internet. There are various ways by which a worm spreads, through Internet like E-mails, Messaging and Chats. Worms almost always cause harm to the network, like consuming network bandwidth. E.g.W32.Mydoom.AX@mm

COMPUTER TROJANS

Trojan horses are impostors: files that claim to be something desirable but, in fact, are malicious. Trojan horse programs do not replicate themselves. Trojan horses contain malicious code that when triggered cause loss, or even theft, of data. E.g. Trojan.Vundo Retrieving users critical information. i.e. name, password. Spreading malware programs i.e. dropper or vector. Erasing or overwriting data on a computer. Spying on a user to gather his information like browsing habits, sites visited etc. These are called Spyware.

   

ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE

An antivirus software is a computer program that identify and remove computer viruses, and other malicious software like Worms and Trojans from an infected computer. Not only this, an antivirus software also protects the computer from further virus attacks. We should regularly run an antivirus program to scan and remove any possible virus attacks from a computer.

HOW AN ANTIVIRUS WORKS



Using dictionary Approach: The antivirus software examines each and every file in a computer and examines its content with the virus definitions stored in its virus dictionary. A virus dictionary is an inbuilt file belonging to an antivirus software that contains code identified as a virus by the antivirus authors.

USING SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR APPROACH:

Antivirus software will constantly monitor the activity of all the programs. If any program tries to write data on an executable file, the antivirus software will flag the program having a suspicious behavior, means the suspected program will be marked as a virus. The advantage of this approach is that it can safeguard the computer against unknown viruses also. The disadvantage is that it may create several false alerts too.

WHEN SELECTING AN ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE

Real-Time Scanning The antivirus software is automatically running in the background on a continuous basis, scanning files and folders for possible virus attacks as they are opened or executed, and checking e-mails as they are downloaded. Most commercial antivirus software provide real time scanning.

CONFIGURING YOUR ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE



Adjust the settings to scan all (*all*) files. Also, ensure that real time scanning is enabled by default. Create a recovery/reference/cure disk because if a boot sector or MBR virus attack the system, it may fail to boot. In that case, recovery cure disk can be used to boot the system and remove the virus. Read the vendors manual. This will help you to understand the advanced options and how to use them according to your preference.

WHAT TO DO ON SUSPECTING VIRUS ATTACK?



  

Disconnect the suspected computer system from the Internet as well as from the Local Network. Start the system in Safe Mode or from the Windows boot disk, if it displays any problem in starting. Take backup of all crucial data to an external drive. Install antivirus software if you do not have it installed. Now, download the latest virus definitions updates from the internet. (do it on a separate computer) Perform a full system scan.

VIRUS FOUND!!

Repair Quarantine Delete Rename Ignore

SOME OF THE SYMPTOMS OF AN INFECTED COMPUTER:

Folder Options disappears from the Tools. Now, hidden files cannot be viewed. Changing registry values has no effect. Regedit doesnt works, when you try to invoke it from the RUN box. Task Manager has been disabled by Administrator. In My Computer, Autoplay option appears instead of Open in every drive you enter i.e. when you click on your drive letters (C, D, E etc) a window opens to select any one program to Open with.

Computer becomes slow and there is noticeable delay in characters to appear on screen when you press in keyboard. Command prompt does not open, if it does closes suddenly. You cannot open system utilities like Task Manager, Regedit, Msconfig, gpedit.msc; it opens and suddenly closes. It creates new entries & add values to the existing Registry.

GENERAL PRECAUTIONS YOU SHOULD TAKE

When inserting removable media (floppy, CD, flash drive etc.) scan the whole device with the antivirus software before opening it. If you have internet access, make sure you use internet security software. Get Windows updates. From time to time, update your installed software to their latest version. E.g. (MS Office, Adobe Reader, java, Flash player etc.) Last but not least, you should have an updated antivirus guarding your PC all time.