Unisar 1.24.1867 manual Macro virus, Mail client, Non-heuristic, Packed programs, Path

Glossary

Macro virus

A type of computer virus that is encoded as a macro embedded in a document. Many applications, such as Microsoft Word and Excel, support powerful macro languages.

These applications allow you to embed a macro in a document, and have the macro execute each time the document is opened.

Mail client

An e-mail client is an application that enables you to send and receive e-mail.

Memory

Internal storage areas in the computer. The term memory identifies data storage that comes in the form of chips, and the word storage is used for memory that exists on tapes or disks. Every computer comes with a certain amount of physical memory, usually referred to as main memory or RAM.

Non-heuristic

This method of scanning relies on specific virus signatures. The advantage of the non-heuristic scan is that it is not fooled by what might seem to be a virus, and does not generate false alarms.

Packed programs

A file in a compression format. Many operating systems and applications contain commands that enable you to pack a file so that it takes up less memory. For example, suppose you have a text file containing ten consecutive space characters. Normally, this would require ten bytes of storage.

However, a program that packs files would replace the space characters by a special space-series character followed by the number of spaces being replaced. In this case, the ten spaces would require only two bytes. This is just one packing technique - there are many more.

Path

The exact directions to a file on a computer. These directions are usually described by means of the hierarchical filing system from the top down.

The route between any two points, such as the communications channel between two computers.

Polymorphic virus

A virus that changes its form with each file it infects. Since they have no consistent binary pattern, such viruses are hard to identify.

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