Understanding Infection Effects

Malware produces a wide variety of results, from relatively innocuous to devastatingly destructive. In learning how to repel or repair the results of malware, it is important to understand what can happen to a system once you have been infected.

"Cute"

Some infections are meant as a "joke" for the recipient. An infected computer may have its screen reversed, have all of its windows move about randomly, or display the message "You Have Been Infected" on the screen. These infections may be considered harmless by the author (who is often just trying to show off), but they can be very annoying to the recipient.

"Cute" infections may also be used by its creator or programmer to verify a new security hole that allows the infection to spread. Therefore, a so-called harmless "cute" infection may portend a more serious infection.

Identity Theft

Some frightening statistics bring to light the overall costs of identity theft. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, approximately 20,000 people per day are victims of identity theft; each of them spends an average of 600 hours over a period of years recovering from this crime. Some studies estimate that up to $92,000 per name is lost to the business community in fraudulent charges, and victims spend an average of $1,400 clearing their records. All it takes to get the ball rolling is for someone to capture an unencrypted password.

More Info

For more on identify theft, go to www.idtheftcenter.org/facts.shtml.

Destructive

The worst type of infection is the one that actually causes your computer to no longer function properly. Destructive infections may cause permanent loss of your data or require you to reinstall the operating system.