Classification(2)

Classification(2)

Boot sector virus

A boot sector virus alters or hides in the boot sector, usually the 1st sector, of a bootable disk or hard drive. Boot sector viruses were prevalent in the 1980s.

   Trojan horse

Trojan Horses are impostor files that claim to be something desirable but, in fact, are malicious. A Trojan horse appears to do one thing (install a screen saver, or show a picture inside an e-mail, for example) . Trojans can also open back doors so that computer hackers can gain access to passwords and other personal information stored on a computer.

A companion virus does not have host files, but exploits MS-DOS. A companion virus creates new files that have the same file names as legitimate .EXE files. The virus will spread and do other tasks before redirecting to the legitimate file, which operates normally. Some companion viruses are known to run under Windows 95 and on DOS emulators on

E-mail virus

An E-mail virus is a virus which uses e-mail messages as a mode of transport. These viruses often copy themselves by automatically mailing copies to people in the victim's address book.

v Macro virus

A macro virus, often written in the scripting languages for programs such as Word and Excel, is spread by infecting documents and spreadsheets.