Report on the Psychology of
Computer Viruses
Introduction
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 1997 17:59:32 -1000
From: Akira Sasabe
To: Leon James
Subject: My Report 2
Dr. James,
I decided to retype the whole thing today and I did just
about the half of it now, and the information seems to appear all right
on
my web page. It was really unfortunate since this time
I decided to use computers only at Porteus and Moore Hall. I still do not
know what was the cause of the virus problem, but I think
as long as I stick with one computer, it seems to be OK. I found my
"favorite" computer at Porteus and do my best to secure
the seat whenever I come in to do the work.
I just hope that I find out the cause of this problem
so other people who do not have computers at home will not suffer like
me...
So far I have been lucky not to have encountered any problems with computer
viruses. I feel so bad for people that have lost data or had to retype
entire reports due to viruses. Mr. Sasabe unfortunately used on-campus
computers which I have heard are very prone to getting viruses. I
have several friends that used campus computer labs and have taken home
infected disks.
Since I frequent the internet a lot more now, I have a big concern for
computer viruses. I have a friend that encountered the michaelangelo
virus. That one was set to go off on a certain date and destroy data.
After his episode with that he took many precautions to prevent that from
happening again. My computer does have a virus checker, but I still
worry that viruses can easily get past that.
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My interpretation
of the news item
Edupage Online, December 1997:
DOE ISSUES WARNING ON CRACKER
TOOLS The U.S. Department of Energy has issued a bulletin
warning that two new computer
attack tools, known as Teardrop and Land, are being used maliciously by
crackers intent on breaking
into computer systems and networks. The software sniffs out vulnerable
servers and
launches attacks based on the
"denial-of-service" strategy that overwhelms servers with bogus messages,
blocking
out legitimate traffic. "They
hit the button and go down to the cinema with their girlfriends," says
a senior systems
consultant with the Defense
Information Systems Agency. "They come back and see that they have looked
at
200,000 systems." (TechWeb 24
Dec 97)
I
don't know much about this new tool that the crackers are using, but I
think its amazing that they have a program that does all the work for them.
They don't even need to be sitting at the computer to be running the malicious
programs. These tools are good for crackers because they don't need
to sit at their computers all day and are able to spend with their girlfriends,
but it makes cyberspace a more dangerous and hectic place for the rest
of us.
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Online resources on computer
viruses
1. ciac.llnl.gov/ciac
2. www.mcafee.com/support/techdocs/vinfo/default.asp
3. IBM's
virus warning site
4. Computer Virus Myths
5. Symantec's
Anti-Virus Research Centre
6. www2.offutt.af.mil/wipo/virushoax.html
7. csrc.ncsl.nist.gov/virus/
Other online resources
1. The Midnight Well anti-virus advice
http://www.d-n-a.net/users/dnetQntY/index.htm
2. IBM PC virus protection
http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/docs/PC/VIRUS/
3. USA TODAY Tech Report
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/ct941.htm
Additional resources I used for this report
http://www.datafellows.fi/v-descs/info/variant.htm
http://pages.prodigy.com/virushelp/#block00
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ucs/docs/inf1/inf1.html
http://www.udel.edu/topics/virus/v-damage.htm
http://www.waterw.com/viruses.htm
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What are computer viruses?
Basically, a computer virus is a program that is able to make copies of
itself. These programs are usually designed with malicious intent.
Computer viruses travel by attaching itself to other programs and reproducing.
Some viruses are harmless and just create a nuisance, but others are intended
to alter data or destroy an entire hard drive.
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How they work
When
a virus enters a computer system, it begins to initialize the computer
and tries to gain control of the operating system. The virus looks
for available host programs that it can attach itself to. The virus
lives in the host program and each time the host program is executed, so
is the virus. At each execution, the virus seeks out more hosts to
attach to. It spreads to numerous systems by attaching itself to
as many hosts as it can and then making copies of itself. Viruses
can enter a computer by internet connections or by contaminated disks.
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Famous viruses
According to the Network Associates
Services virus information, the ten most common viruses are Cap, Concept,
Wazzu, Antiexe, FORM, Laroux, Anticmos, Junkie, NPAD, and Parit Boot.
Information about these viruses can be found by clicking here.
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Virus myths
Because computer viruses are potentially very harmful, there is
concern by many on how it is spread. Computer viruses can spread
in various ways, but there are some myths that are not entirely true.
One myth is that a virus can be caught by simply being connected to the
internet. This is not the case. Rather, the danger comes when
infected files are downloaded. When the infected files are opened,
the virus can spread to your computer. Also, viruses can enter your
computer through certain web programs on a browser.
Getting a virus by reading your email is another myth. Simply reading
your email will not put you in danger of receiving a virus despite of what
some hoaxes say. However, files attached to the email may have a
virus and precaution should be taken when executing those files.
To be safe, all files received through the internet should be scanned first
before using it.
In addition to myths, there are a bunch of virus hoaxes. There have
been many warnings about these viruses, but all are made up stories.
Some famous hoaxes are the Irina, AOL4Free, Sandman, and PENPAL GREETINGS!.
One notorious hoax that I remember hearing about was the Good Times virus.
This virus suposedly came to you by email with the subject line reading
Good Times. The hoax warned not to read any email with that title
and to delete it immediately.
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Significance of computer
viruses
Computer viruses enter the computer system and attach itself to
a host and makes copies of itself. This is similar to human viruses
because they attach to cells and alter their DNA. The virus enters
a cell, attaches itself to the DNA, and instructs the cell to make more
viruses. The cell breaks open and releases new viruses. "The
current breaking news says that they're coming out with intelligent agents
software that seek out and attack computer viruses wherever they can hide
on the internet or on your hard drive." These intelligent agents
are like the body's immune system. T-cells move throughout your body
to encounter viruses and destroy them. The immune system is continually
challenged by substances they recognize as foreign. These substances are
called antigens. The T-cells are like the body's immune survellance
system. The T-cells can be compared to the intelligent agents software
that seek out to attack the computer viruses. These intelligent agents
software seek out the viruses on your computer, attack them, and destroy
them. These agents are like the computers version of T-cells.
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My report compared to others
Most of the other students doing reports on computer viruses have
a much nicer appearance than my report. Better colors, fonts, and
graphics make the pages much more appealing to look at and read.
My content also is a little lacking comparing to the others. Most
others had more detail and closer insight into the psychology of computer
viruses.
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Conclusion
From this report, I have learned that many computer viruses are
harmless, but some are powerful and can be very destructive. It is
very important to protect our equipment from viruses. There really
is no 100% guaranteed way to protect ourselves, but having a anti-virus
program is extremely helpful. I have learned to be very careful when
downloading files off the internet and to scan them before using it.
Also, backing up important files was good advice I came across just in
case my hard drive becomes infected and dies.
For future generations doing a report on computer viruses, I would recommend
searching for many sites. There is an abundance of pages with information
on computer viruses, but many will not contain all the information needed
for a report. Also, it would be very helpful to find someone who
has had first hand experience with a computer virus and interview that
person. It is easier to understand the effects of a virus when hearing
about it from someone who has experienced one.
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