Related: Computer Viruses to Watch Out For and What They Do When you launch one of these false shortcuts, you end up running malware that duplicates the virus and further infects your system, leading to stolen personal data, worsened system performance, and all kinds of other malware-related side effects. A shortcut virus is a kind of Trojan and worm combination that hides all of your files and folders, then replaces them with shortcuts that look identical to the originals.
