Which type of virus infects files executed or interpreted in the system, such as COM, EXE, SYS, OVL, OBJ, PRG, MNU, and BAT files?

Which type of virus infects files executed or interpreted in the system, such as COM, EXE, SYS, OVL, OBJ, PRG, MNU, and BAT files?

• A. System Sector Virus
• B. File viruses
• C. Macro virus
• D. Polymorphic viruses

Answer: (A)

Infecting executable files is the behavior of file viruses. These viruses attach to and modify executable program files so that when the host file is opened or run, the virus code executes as part of the program. The examples listed—COM, EXE, SYS, OVL, OBJ, PRG, MNU, and BAT—are all types of executables or batch/script files that a file virus can infect. As a result, simply launching one of these files can trigger the virus to run, replicate, and potentially spread to other infected files. This distinguishes them from boot or system sector viruses, which target the disk’s boot sector and run when the system starts up, macro viruses that infect documents with embedded macros, and polymorphic viruses that vary their code to evade detection while performing the same payload. The question’s described behavior aligns with file viruses, since the infection targets executable files rather than boot sectors or macro environments.

Infecting executable files is the behavior of file viruses. These viruses attach to and modify executable program files so that when the host file is opened or run, the virus code executes as part of the program. The examples listed—COM, EXE, SYS, OVL, OBJ, PRG, MNU, and BAT—are all types of executables or batch/script files that a file virus can infect. As a result, simply launching one of these files can trigger the virus to run, replicate, and potentially spread to other infected files.

This distinguishes them from boot or system sector viruses, which target the disk’s boot sector and run when the system starts up, macro viruses that infect documents with embedded macros, and polymorphic viruses that vary their code to evade detection while performing the same payload. The question’s described behavior aligns with file viruses, since the infection targets executable files rather than boot sectors or macro environments.