Why this site exists This site exists to help educate the Northwestern community about computer viruses and virus protection. This site will not be updated to announce every new virus that comes out. There are many other sites that announce new viruses. If you think you may have a virus, please follow the steps outlined below . A virus is self-replicating code that can affect operating systems, applications, or documents.
Many viruses are capable of causing damage to the computer system on which they reside.
The code is designed so that the infection occurs without the knowledge or permission of the computer user. It propagates itself by infecting other files and passing itself inconspicuously to other computers. The payload can come in different forms, such as displaying an innocuous message that appears on the screen, changing characters or words in document files, or deleting files from the host computer's hard drive. Each of these viruses employs a different way of ensuring that its code is executed and propagated. General information about virus protection Computer viruses threaten us all.