

Once deleted, the original files cannot be recovered and the data is lost. Overwrite viruses typically take over a file and wipe the original code without you even knowing it. When it comes to pests, these take first prize. This can then be used by hackers to make online purchases with your bank account or expose your private information. Once installed, the viruses gain access to your computer's files and capture your private data – think passwords and online banking information.
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Used by cyber-criminals, Trojan horses are disguised as normal programs, tempting you to install them on your computer. Taking their name from the huge wooden horse in which the Greeks hid to get inside the ancient city of Troy, these are among the sneakiest of computer viruses.

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If your computer catches one of these, you’ll need an expert to carry out a full system reformat ( Windows, Mac). Nowadays, they attach themselves to emails or USB sticks. Back in the day, these viruses were spread through floppy disks. One of the oldest types of viruses, boot sector viruses go straight for the core of your computer, affecting the startup or ‘boot’ process. Much like beepers and Tamagotchis, boot sector viruses are terrible little things that were big in the 90s. Once a macro virus infects a file, it can easily spread to other computers when that file is shared, for example via email. Like most other viruses (except spacefillers – more on these later) macro viruses increase the size of files when they infect them, as they attach their own code. Word and Excel files are favorite places for macro viruses to embed themselves. This type of computer virus is normally found in Microsoft Office programs. We’ve summed up the most common computer viruses and how you can avoid them below:
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Even phones are susceptible, particularly Android phones – a recent report found that Android devices were responsible for 26% of all infected devices, including Windows PCs, IoT devices and iPhones.Īnd while Macs are often said to be more secure than PCs, latest data shows that this is actually not true, with more threats being now detected per endpoint on a Mac compared to a Windows computer.īut either way, don’t worry.

Viruses can find their way onto just about any device – from Windows PCs and Macs to iPhones and Androids. And there are lots of them – last year, these were an incredible 350,000 new pieces of malware (each one is a single piece of intrusive software) detected every single day.įrom minor pests that slow your computer down to serious bugs that steal your data, here are the computer viruses you need to know about and what steps you can take to avoid them all. Well, for a computer, it’s no different.Ĭomputer viruses – sometimes known as malware – come in many different forms. When you’re ill, everything seems hard work.
