ActiveX malicious code

ActiveX controls allow Web developers to create interactive, dynamic Web pages with broader functionality. An ActiveX control is a component object embedded in a Web page which runs automatically when the page is viewed. In many cases, the Web browser can be configured so that these ActiveX controls do not execute by changing the browser's security settings to "high." However, hackers, virus writers, and others who wish to cause mischief or worse may use ActiveX malicious code as a vehicle to attack the system. To remove malicious ActiveX controls, you just need to delete them.

Aliases

There is no commonly accepted industry standard for naming viruses and malicious mobile code. Each may be known by several different names or aliases.

Backdoor

A Backdoor is a program that opens secret access to systems, and is often used to bypass system security. A Backdoor program does not infect other host files, but nearly all Backdoor programs make registry modifications. For detailed removal instructions please view the virus description.

Boot sector viruses

Boot sector viruses infect the boot sector or partition table of a disk. Computer systems are most likely to be attacked by boot sector viruses when you boot the system with an infected disk from the floppy drive - the boot attempt does not have to be successful for the virus to infect the hard drive. Also, there are a few viruses that can infect the boot sector from executable programs- these are known as multi-partite viruses and they are relatively rare. Once the system is infected, the boot sector virus will attempt to infect every disk that is accessed by that computer. In general, boot sector viruses can be successfully removed.

Computers infected since (date)

This table displays the number of infected computers, by region, since detection first became available for this virus. See World Virus Tracking Center for additional information.

Date of origin

Indicates when a virus was first discovered (if known).

Destructive viruses

In addition to self-replication, computer viruses may have a routine that can deliver the virus payload. A virus is defined as destructive if its payload does some damage to your system, such as corrupting or deleting files, formatting your hard drive, and committing denial-of-service attacks etc.

ELF

ELF refers to Executable and Link Format, which is the well-documented and available file format for Linux/UNIX executables

Encrypted viruses

Indicates that the virus code contains a special routine that encrypts the virus body to evade detection by antivirus software.

Java malicious code

Java applets allow Web developers to create interactive, dynamic Web pages with broader functionality. Java applets are small, portable Java programs embedded in HTML pages. They can run automatically when the pages are viewed. However, hackers, virus writers, and others who wish to cause mischief may use Java malicious code as a vehicle to attack the system. In many cases, the Web browser can be configured so that these applets do not execute by changing the browser's security settings to "high."

Joke programs

Joke programs are ordinary executable programs. They are added to the detection list because they are found to be very annoying and/or they contain pornographic images. Joke programs cannot spread unless someone deliberately distributes them. To get rid of a Joke program, delete the file from your system.

Language

This refers to the language locale of the virus working platform such as MS Word in English or Chinese.

Malware

Malware is a general term used to refer to any unexpected or malicious programs or mobile codes such as viruses, Trojan, worm, or Joke programs.

Macro virus

Macro viruses are viruses that use another application's macro programming language to distribute themselves. They infect documents such as MS Word or MS Excel. Unlike other viruses, macro viruses do not infect programs or boot sectors - although a few do drop programs on the user's hard drive. The dropped files may infect executable programs or boot sectors. Macro viruses can be removed safely from the infected document using antivirus products.
Occasionally, you may get an "illegal operation" error when you try to start MS Word after cleaning a Word macro virus. If this happens, search for the file "normal.dot" and rename it to "normaldot.bak." MS Word will generate a new, clean "normal.dot" the next time it is started. This problem occurs because some viruses can leave harmless code residue that MS Word may be reading incorrectly, causing erratic behavior.

NE

NE refers to New Executable, which is the standard Windows 16-bit executable file format. Windows 16-bit viruses are detected as "NE_Virusname."