A common misconception is that write-protecting your floppy discs by opening a small hole in the corner of the disc prevent virus infection. Although a virus cannot jump onto your disk when it is write-protected, you must remove the write protection each time you save a file on the disk. With the write-protection removed, your disk is open to a virus attack.
Another common source of viruses is e-mail attachments. A seemingly innocent attachment could harbour a file virus or boot sector virus. Typically, infected attachments look like executable files, usually with .exe filename extensions, although they can have .sys, .drv, .com, .bin, .vbs, .scr, or .ovl extensions. These files cannot infect your computer unless you open them, thereby executing the virus code that they contain.
In order to assist users in identifying whether their computers have a virus, there are some symptoms which they can look for. It must be noted that the symptoms depend on the virus. The following symptoms may indicate that your computer has contracted a virus, though these symptoms can have other causes.
Your computer displays vulgar, embarrassing, or annoying messages.
Your computer develops unusual visual or sound effects.
You have difficulty saving files, or files mysteriously disappear.
Your computer suddenly seems to work very slowly.
Your computer reboots unexpectedly.
Your executable files unaccountably increase in size.
Your computer starts sending out lots of e-mail messages on its own.
It is important to remember, however, that some viruses, worms and Trojan horses have no recognizable symptoms. For example, a computer can contract a worm that never displays an irritating message or attempts to delete files, but which replicates itself through an e-mail until it eventually arrives at a server where it can damage a network communication system.
In looking at the history of the development of Computer viruses, Wang wrote that the first known PC virus was created in 1986 by two Pakistani brothers, Amjad Farooq Alvi and Basit Farooq Alvi, who ran a software company called Brain Computer Services. The brothers discovered that the boot sector of a floppy disk could contain instructions other than those used to load an operating system. Then, like now, software was being illicitly pirated. So, the brothers created a virus called the Brain virus that would infect any machine that used illegal copies of their software to punish the perpetrators.
Prior to the Brain virus, there had been reports of viruses lurking on Apple machines in 1981. These Apple viruses were propagated through the exchange of pirated games (237).
Within the world today, Information Technology can significantly enhance the way businesses are conducted. This can be done in two different ways. First, it can simply be used to automate the processes already performed in an organization. Automating processes has many advantages, such as making the process faster, more reliable and less error prone, and allowing the organization to deal with many more cases. Second, information technology can be used by organizations to completely re-design the way in which they perform their business operations.
Today, the Internet ties together businesses and homes across the globe, and countless people depend on e-mail to communicate. In a CBS news report, Kevin Poulsen, a security analyst, explains, "These days, companies are so reliant on e-mail, that if they can't send or receive e-mail, it costs them money. (1)
The emergence of the internet has led to even more dramatic changes in the way business is conducted. Many commercial organizations have been attracted to the Internet and are using it for commercial properties often referred to as e-commerce, or e-business.
Companies have become involved in e-commerce for a number of reasons. First, the Internet enables them to significantly reduce their transaction costs. For example the cost of conducting a simple bank transaction over the Internet is less than 5% of the cost of conducting the transaction face-to-face and less than 25% of conducting that transaction using an Automated Teller Machine. Second, the internet has enabled companies to build new relationships with customers and suppliers. Many companies for example insist that potential suppliers wishing to reply to a request for tenders submit their proposals over the Internet. Finally, many companies have either set up entirely new businesses on the Internet while others have seen Internet businesses take a significant slice out of their market share and have therefore been forced to establish an Internet presence as well. A good example is amazon.com, which started as a company selling books over the Internet, took a significant slice out of the market share of Barnes and Noble and so forced the latter company to set up an Internet site as well.
Many businesses are using the internet to conduct business between them. This type of e-commerce is known as Business to Business and it account for some 80% of the total value of all e-commerce operations. However, individuals have also been drawn to the internet for commercial reasons. For example, many individuals are using the Internet to buy directly from retailers in e-commerce. Examples include amazon.com and dell.com. The reasons for the emergence of such activity include convenience, greater choice and savings.
There's no doubt the adoption of Web technology provides a company with the opportunity to change its relationships with the organizations and individuals with which it does business--from trading partners to suppliers, from internal customers to end customers. Perhaps the greatest opportunity for change lies in the collaborative capabilities the Internet provides. The Internet supports the transition of transacting business through discrete, predictable, serial processes to a more cyclical, dynamic approach. The Internet provides a means to readily adapt technology that lets all parties work from the same system, using the same information, in a real-time environment.
Communication is integral part of businesses. Communicating status and changes regarding product-development schedules is just one way in which the Internet is changing business relationships. The Internet has given businesses the ability to increase their communication to their internal and external customers and break down perceived barriers to management. For example, business associates can receive updates from the chairman via the Internet, as well as talk directly with him through regular Web chats. Through broadcasts over the Web, we hear the message delivered at financial-analyst meetings at the same time the analysts are receiving it.
In addition, a manufacturer alerting everyone immediately of a delay and reflecting this delay on the shipment schedule in real time gives retailers, transportation companies, and importers the opportunity to take corrective measures.
The Internet also permits retailers to become more customer focused and responsive. External customers now have the power to determine when they shop, what they want to shop for, and how they want to receive the goods (by mail, by truck, or for pickup at the nearest store). At the same time, information directly collected about customers' buying habits assists retailers in tailoring product offerings and promotions to individuals.
Indeed, the Internet impacts all relationships. Easy access to timely, accurate, and targeted information by businesses and their suppliers, partners, and customers fosters relationships that are one to one rather than one to many. The personalization, communication, and functionality that are the outcome enhance and reinforce relationships in ways not possible in the past. Further implementation and extension of these principles will extend and enhance business relationships well into the future.
With the importance of computers to businesses in the world today, one wonders how they can survive without their use through a virus attack.