Internet Dictionary

Virus There are two fundamental viruses: boot viruses and file viruses. A boot virus copies itself from the boot sector of one disk to the boot sector of another (often a floppy disk to a hard disk). A file virus is different; it attaches itself to a program. When the infected program is run, the virus spreads to other programs. There are several variations of boot and file viruses. A stealth virus is designed to hide, a mutating virus changes as it spreads, and a multipartite virus infects both boot sectors and programs. The polymorphic virus, perhaps the most dangerous of all, is one that changes its code slightly each time it spreads, giving it a better chance to avoid detection. The better-designed viruses cause trouble only after a long period of time has passed. Why? Because the philosophy of a virus writer is to spread his virus to as many computers as possible. To accomplish this, the virus has to work gradually and quietly to increase its chances of propagating. When enough time has passed and enough computers have been infected, the virus begins damaging data, crashing computers, or displaying unwelcome messages. Virus detectors use checksum, signature scanning, and heuristics to detect viruses. It is estimated that over 100 new viruses are introduced each month.

VPN Virtual Private Network. Some ISPs transmit traffic on private communication paths that do not connect to the Internet. Known as VPNs, the private paths allow for secure and faster communications for both intranets and extranets.

VRML Virtual Reality Modeling Language. A programming language that supports three-dimensional animation on a computer screen.

Internet Dictionary Click on a letter to see the relevant terms: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Z

Internet Dictionary
Click on a letter to see the relevant terms: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Z