- Industry: Software
- Number of terms: 9143
- Number of blossaries: 1
- Company Profile:
Under MS-DOS, Windows 3. X, 9x, and NT (in some cases), the FAT is located in the boot sector of the disk and stores the addresses of all the files contained on a disk. Viruses and other malicious programs, as well and normal use and extended wear and tear, can damage the FAT. If the FAT is damaged or corrupted, the operating system may be unable to locate files on the disk.
Industry:Software
Fast infector viruses, when active in memory, infect not only executed programs, but also other programs that are open at the same time. Thus, running an application, such as anti-virus software, which opens many programs but does not execute them, can result in all programs becoming infected. Also see: slow infector.
Industry:Software
A dropper is a carrier file that installs a virus on a computer system. Virus authors often use droppers to shield their viruses from anti-virus software. The term injector often refers to a dropper that installs a virus only in memory.
Industry:Software
A false positive error occurs when anti-virus software wrongly claims that a virus is infecting a clean file. False positives usually occur when the string chosen for a given virus signature is also present in another program. Also see: false negative.
Industry:Software
A false negative error occurs when anti-virus software fails to indicate that an infected file is truly infected. False negatives are more serious than false positives, although both are undesirable. False negatives are more common with anti-virus software because the may miss a new or a heavily modified virus. Also see: false positive.
Industry:Software
Usually, it is executed by double-clicking its icon or a shortcut on the desktop, or by entering the name of the program at a command prompt. Executable files can also be executed from other programs, batch files, or various script files. The vast majority of known viruses infect executable files. This is also called a program file.
Industry:Software
In conjunction with several anti-virus software companies, EICAR has developed a test file for anti-virus software. Also see: EICAR Standard Anti-Virus Test File.
Industry:Software
Encryption is the scrambling of data so that it becomes difficult to unscramble and interpret.
Industry:Software
An encrypted virus's code begins with a decryption algorithm and continues with scrambled or encrypted code for the remainder of the virus. Each time it infects, it automatically encodes itself differently, so its code is never the same. Through this method, the virus tries to avoid detection by anti-virus software.
Industry:Software
The EICAR Standard Anti-Virus Test File consists of one line of printable characters; if saved as EICAR. COM, it can be executed and displays the message: "EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!" This provides a safe and simple way of testing the installation and behavior of anti-virus software without using a real virus.
Industry:Software
