Computer virus

A computer virus is a self-replicating computer program written to alter the way a computer operates, without the permission or knowledge of the user.
Though the term is commonly used to refer to a range of malware, a true virus must replicate itself, and must execute itself.
The latter criteria are often met by a virus which replaces existing executable files with a virus-infected copy.
While viruses can be intentionally destructive—destroying data, for example—some viruses are benign or merely annoying.
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