Your computer has frozen. Sometimes it is on a page that is demanding money to give you back control of your computer. Sometimes it just dies, and you can’t get it going again for love or money. Sometimes it just runs slowly and sometimes it crashes completely.
Most of the time we will say that we have a virus in our computer, and just like the ones we can have in our body, these viruses attack our computer’s hard drive space or central processing unit, which makes it very difficult to repair.
By definition, a computer virus is a malicious software program that replicates itself by modifying other programs and inserting its own code. That is, it enters your computer and then takes over your programs, sometimes leaving them not working at all.
Those who release these viruses are using social engineering tricks to exploit vulnerabilities in systems. Sometimes, even if you have a security system on your computer, the virus can bypass it and still infect you. Viruses cost billions of dollars a year in economic damage because the damage they cause is so great. They are for profit or political messages or sabotage. Sometimes the people who create them just do it for the pleasure of seeing users suffer, and suffer.
On the other hand, malware is malicious software, such as ransomware, worms, Trojan horses, and spyware. Fortunately, they don’t interfere with hard drive space or take control of your computer, although they are still annoying to own and manage.
There are many places that deal with removing malware from your computer and even programs that you can download to scan and remove them from your system. Now that we know more about these things, security systems have pre-scheduled scans that take place at an allotted time to scan the computer and alert you to any problems before they get too big to handle. By using an antivirus program and your security, you’re in a good place to keep your computer running smoothly. Sure, sometimes it’s slow and sometimes you need professional help, and luckily there are those who deal with computers on a daily basis and know what they’re doing.
In the meantime, back up everything important so you don’t lose it if the next big virus hits your computer.
