Download Computer Viruses For Dummies

Chapter 16: Almost Ten Myths about Computer Viruses
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All Viruses Are Destructive
I disagree with all statements that say all. (Well, most of them
anyway.) Okay, word games aside, some viruses exist only to
replicate themselves, and other than that, they do nothing
harmful.
But a purist would say that even these are harmful, because
they upset their computers’ feng shui. A system with even a
benign virus is tainted, and there could someday be some
unintended consequence of that.
Bottom line: This one’s arguable either way. Wanna have some
fun? Get a couple of cyber-philosophers in a room and watch
them argue this one for a couple of hours.
Viruses Can Damage
Computer Hardware
I know I’m going to get into trouble with this one. Some expert
out there is going to have a good counter-argument, but for
the most part, this fear is false.
Here’s how it looks from the virus writer’s perspective: Why
aim for the hardware when there’s so much brittle software
that can be damaged? Go for the easy target first. Besides, if
the virus hurts the hardware, how’s it going to spread itself
any further?
The purist would argue that a virus can damage computer
hardware by giving it instructions that make the system
misuse some part of itself (for example, by writing excessively
to the hard drive), but few such hardware-eating viruses have
been released. This is partly because there are so many different types, makers, and formats of computer hardware that
one virus would be hard put to trash all of them. Besides,
nearly all computer hardware has built-in safeguards that prevent any real damage.
But if you do get a virus and see sparks or flames shooting out
of your computer or keyboard, please catch it on video and
send it to me.