Computer Virus A computer virus is a small software program that spreads from one computer to another computer and

that interferes with computer operation. A computer virus may corrupt or delete data on a computer, use an -mail e program to spread the virus to other computers, or even delete everything on the hard disk. Computer viruses are most easily spread by attachments in e -mail messages or by instant messaging messages. Therefore, you must never open an e -mail attachment unless you know who sentthe message or unless you are expecting the e -mail attachment. Computer viruses can be disguised as attachments of funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video files. Computer viruses also spread by using downloads on the Internet. Computer viruses can be hidden in pirated software or in other files or programs that you may download.

Internet Browser A web browser or Internet browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by aUniform Resource Identifier (URI) and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content. Hyperlinks present in resources enable users to easily navigate their browsers to related resources. Although browsers are primarily intended to access the World Wide Web, they can also be used to access information provided by Web servers in private networks or files in file systems. Some browsers can also be used to save information resources to file systems.
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Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suiteand managed by Mozilla Corporation. As of October 2010, Firefox is the second most widely used browser with 30% of worldwide usage share of web browsers. In Germany, Firefox is the most popular browser with 60% usage. To display web pages, Firefox uses theGecko layout engine, which implements most current web standards in addition to several features which are intended to anticipate likely additions to the standards.

series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems starting in 1995 It was first released as part of the add-on pac a ge Plus! for Windows 95 that year. Later versions were available as free downloads, or in service pac s, and included in the OEM service releases of Windows 95 and later versions of Windows.

A mod m (modulator-d modulator) is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data. Modems can be used over any means of transmitting analog signals, from driven diodes to radio. The most familiar e ample is a voice band modem that turns the digital data of a personal computer into modulated electrical signals in thevoice frequency range of a telephone channel. These signals can be transmitted over telephone lines and demodulated by another modem at the receiver side to recover the digital data. Modems are generally classified by the amount of data they can send in a given time unit, normally measured in bits per second (bit/s, or bps). They can also be classified by the symbol rate measured in baud, the number of times the modem changes its signal state per second. For e ample, the ITU V.21 standard used audio frequency-shift keying, aka tones, to carry 300 bit/s using 300 baud, whereas the original ITU V.22 standard allowed 1,200 bit/s with 600 baud using phase shift keying.

Rout s forward data packets across computer networks. A Router checks the data packet for its destination [1] address and protocol format details. If the router microprocessor finds a match in its address tables, it routes it to that destination address. If the destination address is on a network type that uses a different transmission protocol, the appropriate new protocol data is added to the packet.

A b idg device filters data traffic at a network boundary. Bridges reduce the amount of traffic on a LAN by dividing it into two segments. Bridges operate at the data link layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model. Bridges inspect incoming traffic and decide whether to forward or discard it. An Ethernet bridge, for e ample, inspects each incoming Ethernet frame including the source and destination MAC addresses, and sometimes the frame size - in making individual forwarding decisions. Bridges serve a similar function as switches, that also operate at La yer 2. Traditional bridges, though, support one network boundary, whereas switches usually offer four or more hardware ports. Switches are sometimes called "multi-port bridges" for this reason.

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secretly access a computer system without the owner's informed consent. The e pression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.
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Software is considered to be malware based on the perceived intent of the creator rather than any particular features. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, spyware, dishonestadware, scareware, crimeware, most rootkits, and other malicious and unwanted software or program.

A T oj n ho s , or T oj n, is software that appears to perform a desirable function for the user prior to run or install, but (perhaps in addition to the e pected function) steals information or harms the system. S cu ity

Trojan horses may allow a hacker remote access to a target computer system. Once a Trojan horse has been installed on a target computer system, a hacker may have access to the computer remotely and perform various operations, limited by user privileges on the target computer system and the design of the Trojan horse. Operations that could be performed by a hacker on a target computer system include: Use of the machine as part of a botnet (e.g. to perform automated spamming or to distribute Denial-ofservice attacks)

      

Data theft (e.g. retrieving passwords or credit card information) Installation of software, including third-party malware Downloading or uploading of files on the user's computer Modification or deletion of files Keystroke logging Watching the user's screen Crashing the computer

Trojan horses in this way require interaction with a hacker to fulfill their purpose, though the hacker need not be the individual responsible for distributing the Trojan horse. It is possible for individual hackers to scan computers on a network using a port scanner in the hope of finding one with a malicious Trojan horse installed, which the hacker can then use to control the target computer.
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As mentioned earlier on, the term "Trojan horse" was taken from a clever Greek plan described by Homer in the Iliad. After seemingly abandoning the siege of Troy, the Greeks placed armed men inside a huge wooden horse. The horse was welcomed into the city by the Trojans, who believed it was a symbol of peace; they slept while the Greeks e ited the horse and opened the gates allowing the Greek army into Troy, conquering the city

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