Monday, November 9, 2009

Win32 Viruses Are Harmless Trojans But Removal Is Essential

By Jake Michael Black

As far as the least harmful of viruses go, Win32 Viruses fall into this category. They are Trojans, but do not have the dreadful reputation that many of these have. They are pretty old and will attach themselves to files in attempt to modify them. The outcome of this is that a fireworks display will burst onto the screen when you send an outgoing email.

This virus was started in 2005, so as viruses go they are quite old, they enter your system on an incoming mail with an attached. Exe file. If you open this file, it activates the virus and while it does not actually harm your data or computer they are not good to have. No virus is and it should be removed. This can be done manually or with anti virus tools.

The Happy99. Exe is another name for a Win32 virus and I expect it was named thus because of the fireworks display. People don't know when they are sending it to you, so it gets around without the sender knowing it and once it gets into your system is created 2 files in you systems folder. These are the "SKA. EXE and SKA. DLL." files.

"SKA. DLL" is what modifies your files, while"SKA. EXE" is a copy of the virus. Once the modification file has done its work it turns into a "WSOCK32. SKA" file and it is this that allows the HAPPY99. EXE to do its thing and attach itself to your outgoing emails without you knowing it.

Just like all viruses and all Trojans, Win32 is a sneaky little "b", and although it is not nearly as harmful to your equipment and won't crash your computer, ruin programs or allow anyone to view your private information it can cause a mail server to become overloaded. As it attaches itself to newsgroups, if the email lists are very long, it can clog up a server for what seems like an eternity.

There is also the probability that other viruses will attach to the Win32. This is when some real problems can be experienced. It happens easily as Win32 gets passed around a great deal without anyone knowing.

It is relatively simple to remove this virus, even without anti-virus software tools. You just do it through DOS. You remember DOS don't you? But then again perhaps you don't but you will find instructions online. If you have seen fireworks displays going off when you send out emails, your PC is contagious and has the virus, and you don't want to pass it onto other users.

If a more dangerous third party virus manages to attach itself to Win32, it can become extremely dangerous. Information can be compromised and mutations occur, meaning more harmful threats, so it is best to get rid of it asap.

About the Author:

0 comments: