Find the answers to the questions.

1. What happened on March 6, 1990?

2. What is the origin of the term virus?

3. What is a computer virus?

4. How does a virus work? What parts does typical virus consist of?

5. What information have you got about the Michelangelo virus?

6. What virus does Macintosh suffer from?

7. What are the main types of computer viruses and how do they differ?

8. Is there any way to protect your IBM or IBM-compatible personal computer from viruses?

9. Give some practical advice for novice.

10. What programs can be used for protection of computers? Name them and explain their manner of work.

11. Why do some people consider computer viruses important?

12. Can you keep your computer free of viruses?

 

Complete the sentences.

1. A virus called Michelangelo had somehow spread ….

2. … the jargon of the computer industry to describe some of the bad things that can happen to computer systems and programs.

3. Some types of viruses include the worm, ….

4. If you use a shared PC or a PC that has public access, ….

5. …: virus shield, which defect viruses as they are infecting your PC, and virus scanners, which detect viruses once they’re infected you.

 

Match the following English words with their definitions.

	a computer virus	a	to discover or recognize that something is present
	antivirus program	b	something which transmits a disease or virus
	a detonator	c	an unwanted program that has entered your system without you knowing about it
	to erase	d	a device used to set off an explosion or other destructive process
	to detect	e	a computer program that stops the spread of and often eradicates the virus
	pirated	f	to remove all traces of something
	an infector	g	stolen, obtained without the owner’s consent
	a shield	h	a protective device

 

 

True or false statements.

1. A virus is always lethal to your hard disk.

2. Virus shield are more effective than virus scanners.

3. Virus is the name generally given to software that causes malicious alteration of computer files.

4. The virus will spread as soon as you put the infected disk in your PC.

5. Most viruses spread through pirated games.

Translate the following sentences into Ukrainian.

1. The first recognized virus was created by Fred Cohen while a student at the University of Southern California. His doctoral theses proved that computer code could replicate itself, attach itself to other files, and change the behaviour of the computer.

2. The computer virus, of course, gets its name from the biological virus. The word itself comes from a Latin word meaning slimy liquid or poison.

3. A virus that replicates itself by resending itself as an e-mail attachment or as part of a network message is known as a worm.

4. Macro viruses are among the most common viruses, and they tend to do the least damage. Macro viruses infect your Microsoft Word application and typically insert unwanted words or phrases.

5. The best protection against a virus is to know the origin of each program or file you load into your computer or open from your e-mail program.

 

Choose the most appropriate answer.

1. What is a virus?

a) A program that e-mails from your computer.

b) A program that replicates.

c) A program that hides on your computer.

 

2. What is a Trojan horse?

a) A program that replicates.

b) A program that automatically spreads.

c) A program with hidden functions.

 

3. Data diddling is when...

a) data is overwritten.

b) data is altered.

c) data is e-mailed.

 

4. A multipartite virus...

a) Infects only hard disks.

b) Infects only files.

c) Infects multiple vectors.

 

5. Most viruses...

a) make themselves visible.

b) hide themselves.

c) reveal themselves after one infection.

 

6. More viruses are spread by...

a) e-mail.

b) Web pages.

c) floppy diskettes.

 

7. When you detect a virus, first...

a) shut down your computer immediately.

b) make some tea.

c) format your hard disk.

 

8. A blended threat would not...

a) copy confidential information.

b) erase your credit cards.

c) open a backdoor.

 

9. The biggest potential damage caused by a virus is...

a) formatting the hard drive.

b) erasing files.

c) e-mailing confidential information.

 

10. Viruses exploit...

a) none of the known vulnerabilities.

b) some of the known vulnerabilities.

c) all of the known vulnerabilities.

 

II Retell the text “Viruses”.

III Rendering

Read the text and translate it into Ukrainian using a dictionary.

Spyware

Spyware is any program which secretly gathers user information through the user's internet connection without the user's knowledge. This program may be hidden as a component of freeware or shareware programs that can be downloaded from the Internet. The spyware then transmits the information to someone else. This information is used for many reasons. Some spyware is used strictly for marketing data collection, gathering and transmitting that information on to someone else. Spyware software may be installed legitimately to monitor security or workplace monitoring, and may be installed to maliciously violate the integrity of your computer.

Personal information is secretly recorded through many techniques, including logging keystrokes, recording internet web browsing activity, and scanning documents on the computer's hard drive. Purposes range from criminal (theft of passwords and financial information) to the collection of marketing research for targeted advertising.

The spread of spyware has led to the development of anti-spyware programs. Its products remove or disable the existing spyware on the computer and prevent installation of any new program. However, a number of companies have added a form of spyware into their products. These are not considered malware (or malicious software) but still monitor for advertising purposes. They are still spyware and it is debatable whether this is a legitimate use of adware/spyware and malware since the user often has no knowledge that these programs have been installed. The user then is unaware of the infringement on their privacy. These programs still use the resources of your computer without your permission.

The first recorded use of spyware was on October 16, 1995 in a Usenet post that poked fun at Microsoft's business model. It first was considered hardware for theft purposes. In 2000 it was the term used in a press release for a personal firewall. Since then spyware has taken on its present definition. In 2001 Steve Gibson of Gibson Research realized that advertising software had been installed in his system stealing personal information. He determined the source was adware and he developed the first anti-spyware program, OptOut.

Many anti-spyware programs have been written since then. According to a 2005 study by AOL and others, 61% of surveyed users' computers had some form of spyware on them. 92% of surveyed users with spyware reported that they did not know of its presence and 91% reported that they had not given permission for the installation of the program. In 2006 it was found that spyware had become one of the worse security threats to computer systems running Microsoft Windows operating systems. In an estimate based on customer information, 9 out of 10 computers connected to the internet are infected. Windows Internet Explorer is the primary browser attacked because it is the most widely used program and allows spyware access to important parts of the operating system.

Some spyware programmers infect a system through security holes in the Web browser or in other software. When you navigate on a web page controlled by the spyware author, the page may contain a code which attacks the browser, forcing the download and installation of the software. The spyware creator knows the security systems, spyware blockers and firewall programs available to us. They continually pursue new methods of attacking your computer. The software programs are written as a means of income for the author.

Continually check for spyware and adware on your computer. A spyware free computer operates faster and connects you to the Internet faster than an infected computer. Some computers may become so overrun by these software programs that they fail to operate properly and people resort to taking their computer to be repaired. Sometimes it appears that the computer has a virus, when in fact it is bogged down by spyware. The worse case scenario is having your system totally restored to reverse the problem. The best way to stay free of spyware is to stay up to date on your virus, spyware, adware and malware definitions, have an anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall program on your computer. Run the security programs daily and stay alert to symptoms. The Internet is meant to be used and enjoyed in spite of the possible problems.