Internet Viruses

An Internet virus is a program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer system and does harmful things against your wishes. All computer viruses are manmade. A simple virus that can make a copy of itself over and over again is relatively easy to produce. Even such a simple virus is dangerous because it can quickly use all your computer's available memory and bring your computer to a dead halt. An even more dangerous type of virus is one capable of transmitting itself across networks and bypassing security systems.

An Internet virus attaches itself to a program or file on your computer so it can spread from one computer to another, leaving infections as it travels. Much like human viruses, computer viruses can range in severity; some viruses cause only mildly annoying effects while others can damage your hardware, software, or files. A virus may exist on your computer but it cannot infect your computer unless you run or open the infected program. It is important to note that a virus cannot be spread without a human action, (such as running an infected program) to keep it going. People continue the spread of a computer virus, mostly unknowingly, by sharing infecting files or sending e-mails with viruses as attachments in the e-mail.

As a safety precaution, we highly recommend that you have some type of virus protection installed on your computer before you consider downloading anything.