Classifications of Computer Threats: Things you must be aware of

Long gone are the days that humans fear bombs falling out of the sky to finish civilization. Or hide out in secret basements to keep safe from war and the danger that they bring. The new era welcomes a world that contains Trojan, worms, viruses and spyware. Now you may get confused on what is being discussed here, but this is no computer geek talk. This is something each of us has or will encounter with our computer. Picture this scenario: you getting ready to open up your computer and open the project that you have been working on for weeks only to be horrified that it is gone from your computer.

Not only that, but also years of pictures, videos and important files deleted and cannot be retrieved. If this is a familiar scenario that you have experienced, you know what I’m talking about: computer virus, the biggest enemy of computer users and computer experts. Years have come and gone, but every time someone finds a cure to these computer viruses, a new one, much deadlier would appear. They are plagues to the computers and sickness that are just too hard to eliminate.

To know how to destroy these viruses, we need to understand each of them first. Just like human illness, there are classifications of these viruses and different symptoms will show if your computers get affected.

Trojan Horse. This may be a common name and might get you thinking of the Trojan war. The computer equivalent of the Trojan horse lives on the same principle. You may think it is a wonderful game, video or document but in actuality, it is a virus that can fry your system. This is good reason to be extra careful when downloading anything from the internet, especially from sites that you do not trust.

Worms. These cunning computer hackers spread themselves through your e- mail. They will get in your address book, replicate themselves and send codes to all of your contacts. Thus, the damage is not only sent to you but to others as well.

Viruses. Viruses are just like human virus. They would give your computer some sort of malfunctioning. It could delete all your files, make you software run slowly or constantly crash your computer. They will also try to duplicate themselves and attach on e- mails, floppy disks, CDs, DVDs or flash drives.

Spyware. Spywares are installed to your computer without your knowledge. This was made to gain more access about you and your personal data increasing your risk for identity theft. A spyware can track a lot of things about you like your online activities, e- mails and a lot more. Your computer gets affected by spyware through surfing websites, downloaded files and e- mails.

Adware. These are installed to your computer through web browsing and download and will display unwanted ads that can significantly slow down your computer.

Keyloggers. This is a dangerous software that can be unknowingly downloaded to your computer. Its action is to copy down all the passwords that you have in your system. Having a keylogger would mean that you are at risk of having your e- mails and other secured websites hacked.

Knowing all of these problems that can occur to your computer, it is important that you are always on guard when surfing the net. A lot of problems can arise when one or two of these are in your system. You can lose valuable information or be a victim of cyber crimes. Buying and installing a good computer antivirus can help a lot and will ensure you a safe web browsing experience.