How do computer viruses work?

Like viruses that affect Humans, computer viruses are not good. Pierre Kerr, ac210@freenet.carleton.ca, explains.

Computers are made of wire and electronics and when we talk about a computer virus, it's not something that's caused by a germ or other living thing. A computer virus is a name given to a computer program that does act very much like a biological virus.

Computer viruses are very clever programs that can be transferred from one computer to another even though the persons using the computer have no idea that they are there. Unfortunately, these clever programs sometimes are made to do damage to computer information. Of course, computer programs are written by people, so it's these people that are actually doing the harm. Not a nice thing to do.

These days, if someone is caught intentionally writing or spreading a computer virus, they could get into big trouble with the police.

If you or someone you know uses a computer, you must be very careful when you get a new program or game. Be sure that you know where it came from, and if you're not sure, don't use it. It could have a virus on it.

There are ways to protect your computer from these bad programs, and we have included with this answer a computer disk that has a sort of slide show that tells you more about computer viruses. Your teacher should be able to help you run the program.

Good question Chris, and remember to think about computer viruses when you are using your computer.

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