The Computer Virus

The computer virus has become a major issue in a relatively short time.
As early as 1981, computer viruses were infecting Apple II series computers.
In just 10 years, viruses such as Michelangelo, Stoned,  Jerusalem B, FRIDAY
the 13th and others have made their way into the personal computer industry.
Along with being a major nuisance, most are harmless; however, some viruses
are truly menacing, causing system crashes and irretrievable data loss.

In 1986, there were three known DOS viruses.  Today, more than 2000 computer
viruses have been identified.  The term computer virus has fallen in to some
debate over its technical description.  The following is probably the most
widely accepted definition.
	
*	Any program that self-replicates by infecting other programs

Ways to become infected:

*	Sharing disks
*	Files downloaded from a BBS 
*	Commercially distributed software
*	Networks

Symptoms:

*	Growth in certain files
*	A change in the files DATE/TIME stamp
*	Decrease in available memory
*	Lost clusters, Cross-linked files
*	Weird or unrelated messages, graphics, and/or music

Most viruses can be grouped into 2 broad categories.      

*	System Area Infector (Boot-sector)

        A virus that infects the startup code in the first sectors of the
        hard disk or diskette.

*	File Infector

        A virus that infects specific file types.  Executable programs
        (.EXE and .COM) and overlay and driver files (.OVL, .SYS and .DRV).

Most importantly, if your computer does become infected, DON'T PANIC!  There
are ways of repairing and removing virus without damaging your computer's
integrity with the Norton ANTIVIRUS program


Note: 	The latest version of Norton AntiVirus is 3.0 and is available
        through Customer Service at 800-441-7234.






