Can a virus jump partitions

It's true, most viruses and malware these days don't bother with user data files unless they can be used as further infection vectors.

This is because the commercialization of malware leads its creators to be more interested in collecting botnet zombies or intercepting financial information, rather than wantonly inflicting damage.

However, they could , and there's no telling what someone might do for the lulz. Quote: Yeah I know. Having files on a separate drive or partition will have zero bearing on them getting infected, but it can help speed up recovery after redeploying the OS.. It is true that a vast majority of malware these days simply doesn't do this anymore, but it doesn't change the fact that it CAN happen, which is what the OPs question was.

Back when viruses were written by hackers trying to prove they had the biggest dick instead of Russians trying to steal your identity, data corruption on all drives was common. Most modern malware doesn't even make itself known to the user, it's there to keylog your personal info and MMO accounts, and use your computer for a botnet, being obvious doesn't accomplish either of those. Yeah, many viruses don't mess with anything but your system volume, one of the reasons why I like to keep the system volume relatively small and store all my other junk elsewhere, also because the system volume is the most likely to get messed up for other reasons, so I like to keep my stuff separate.

But I'd be surprised if any malware went to the trouble of excluding itself from different physical drives while infecting different volumes on the same drive. Even Windows seems to have no common courtesy in this regard - it'll "infect" any disk you connect to it with "System Volume Information" crap and possibly other junk. It also writes temporary files which it often doesn't clean up to the root of any drive on your computer that has the most free space. What I'd like to see is Windows respecting that the system volume is its volume and it has no business doing ANYTHING with any other volumes including auto-mounting them without you specifically asking it to.

When I install Windows on one partition, it's because that's where I want it - it has no business using other partitions, as it has no idea where they've been, what condition they're in, whether the file system is intact, whether the drive it's on is physically okay, etc.

Yeah, I know the "don't auto-mount" is a little much to ask on an operating system as "user-friendly" as Windows, where most people just want things to work by themselves without having to do anything "complicated", but they should at least use the temp folder for its intended purpose instead of writing crap all over the place - that's not a user-centric issue - that's common sense thing.

Wudan Master wrote: For all intents and purposes a virus is you, anything you can see and do a virus can also see and do. How so? I can read and modify my personal files without an UAC prompt. You were saying? Can a virus or any malicious threat breach hard drive partition boundaries? Wudan Master. Home The Human Body How do viruses jump from animals to humans? Katherine Arden Social networks. It all depends on the operating system C is system partition? Depends very much on what the Infection is.

Col 0 Votes. Back to Malware Forum. Start or search. Start New Discussion. Create a new discussion If you're asking for technical help, please be sure to include all your system info, including operating system, model number, and any other specifics related to the problem. Track this discussion and email me when there are updates. Reset Post Submit Post. Related Discussions. From bats to people to tigers?

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Jonathan Epstein : The confirmed tiger case is the first evidence of SARS CoV2 in a captive wildlife species -- a big cat-- and also suggests likely transmission from a person likely one of the animal care staff. This finding other big cats at the zoo had signs of coughing, but weren't tested provides important information about what the disease might look like in big cats, and also lets other zoos know what could happen within their collection. To protect the health of the animals in the collection, it's probably a good idea for zoos to have staff start wearing masks homemade, not scarce N95s!

Read More. The disease expert who warned us. But we are learning a tremendous amount from the human epidemiological data that comes in from the US, China and every other country. Similarly, we know little about which other species may be susceptible to infection and how this virus affects other susceptible species. Recent studies , still not yet peer reviewed, provide evidence that domestic cats are susceptible to experimental infection with SARS CoV2 and that cats sampled in Wuhan after the outbreak started had antibodies against SARS CoV2, suggesting that cats may have been infected by owners with Covid CNN : Should people be concerned about passing Covid to their pets or being at risk of getting the virus from them?

It's clear that the Covid pandemic is driven by human-to-human transmission; however, there's still a lot we don't know, and the absence of evidence of a person being infected by a companion animal does not mean it can't happen.

Pets do play an important role in our lives, particularly when we're facing steep challenges such as this. The best guidance right now is from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends that people who have pets and are sick should treat them like other family members and avoid contact with them. CNN : How do coronaviruses jump from other animals to human beings?