The word 'virus' gets tossed around a lot. Here's what actually counts, what to watch for, and how to stay two clicks ahead ...

The binary pattern of the machine code of a particular virus. Antivirus programs compare their database of virus signatures with the files on the hard disk and removable media (including the boot ...

A virus that changes its binary signature each time it infects a new file. Using a random number generator, a unique key can be created to encrypt each virus download that self extracts and executes ...