What is a stealth virus and how does it work?

<p>A stealth virus is a computer <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/virus”>virus</a> that uses various mechanisms to avoid detection by <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/antivirus-software”>antivirus software</a>. It takes its name from the term <i>stealth</i>, which describes an approach to doing something while avoiding notice.</p>
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<p>Typically, a stealth virus can hide in a computing device’s legitimate files, partitions or boot sectors without alerting the antivirus software or notifying the user of its presence. Once injected into a computer, the virus enables the attackers to operate and gain control over parts of the system or the entire system.</p>
<section class=”section main-article-chapter” data-menu-title=”How a stealth virus works”>
<h2 class=”section-title”><i class=”icon” data-icon=”1″></i>How a stealth virus works</h2>
<p>A stealth virus is any virus that tries to avoid detection by antivirus software. However, viruses that escape notice, even if they’re not specifically designed to do so, are also described as stealth viruses. This sometimes occurs because the virus is new or because users haven’t updated their antivirus software to be able to detect the infection.</p>
<p>Stealth viruses aren’t new. Brain, the first known virus to target IBM PCs, was a stealth virus that infected the boot sector of a floppy storage disk. Brain was created in Pakistan as an antipiracy measure in 1986.</p>
<p>A stealth virus has an intelligent architecture, making it hard to eliminate from a computer system. The virus is smart enough to rename itself and send copies to a different drive or location, evading detection by the system’s antivirus software. The only way to remove it is to wipe the computer and rebuild it from scratch.</p>
<p>Booting a computer from a removable disk, such as a <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/USB-drive”>USB drive</a>, prevents the stealth virus from running amok before the antivirus or <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/se

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