Glossary of Virus Terms - B
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Backdoor
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The term backdoor often refers to backdoor programs - applications that open computers
for access by remote systems. These programs typically respond to specially-built
client programs, but can be designed to respond to legitimate messaging applications.
Many backdoor programs actually make use of the IRC backbone, receiving commands
from common IRC chat clients via the IRC network.
Backdoor programs (detected by Trend Micro antivirus as BKDR_malwarename) typically
cannot propagate on their own. |
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Boot Sector Viruses
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Boot sector viruses infect the boot sector or the partition table of a disk. Computer
systems are typically infected by these viruses when started with infected floppy
disks - the boot attempt does not have to be successful for the virus to infect
the computer hard drive. Once a computer is infected, boot sector viruses usually
attempt to infect every disk accessed on the infected system. In general, boot sector
viruses can be successfully removed.
There are a few viruses that can infect the boot sector after executing as a program.
They are known as multi-partite viruses and are relatively rare.
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Browser Helper Objects
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Browser Helper Objects (BHOs) are companion applications for Microsoft Internet
Explorer. They usually come in the form of toolbars, search helpers, and monitoring
applications. Some adware and spyware programs have employed BHOs to monitor user
browsing habits and deliver targeted advertising as well as to steal information.
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