virus
Also known as:
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A virus is a computer program or script designed to do malicious things on or to networks on the Internet. Viruses spread by tricking unkowing users into installing or running them, or by exploiting glitches in other software in order to run. Viruses often implant themselves in the victim computer by replicating and adding themselves to startup scripts in the OS or other applications. Viruses also use existing services like email and other network software on the victim computer to replicate themselves to more systems across the Internet. Viruses can be designed to bog down a network, destroy victims' data, or simultaneously flood a chosen Internet server with bogus requests. The latter example is called a DoS (Denial of Service) attack.
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