Interpretation on
News Item:
Technology is improving, but is it making our lives
worse or better? In response to the article "DOE ISSUES WARNING ON
CRACKER TOOLS," it seems that people have developed a lack of respect for
others and their privacy. Attacks like the one explained in the article
are ambitious attacks on the company as well as it customers as it causes
more time and more money to be spent on internet security. This takes
away more time and more money from the company which in turn also causes
them to charge their customers more in order to cover the costs of implementing
new and improved internet interventions.
Reading this outrages me as well as many others,
I'm sure, because it's probably true that many of these virus makers go
through their day just as they explained where they launch the virus and
take a stroll or some other relaxing activity and come back to find out
that their program has successfully done its job. What I don't think
they care about is that while they were out relaxing, they were causing
many a large amount of distress. What I do think about these virus
makers is that they probably just do it for fun and to prove that they
are somewhat more powerful in the computer world than others. In
a sense, I think that many virus makers see it as a game. Whatever
the reason though, I feel that most of it is a lack of respect for others,
the online community, and themselves.
Dr. James' Online Resources on Computer Viruses
ciac.llnl.gov/ciac
www.mcafee.com/support/techdocs/vinfo/default.asp
IBM's virus
warning site
Computer Virus Myths
Symantec's Anti-Virus
Research Centre
www2.offutt.af.mil/wipo/virushoax.html
csrc.ncsl.nist.gov/virus/
My Suggested Online Resources on Computer Viruses
Anti-virus Software from the
Mining Company
This site features up to the minute information
about the latest viruses in a news highlights type of format. It
also provides links to information such as the hottest downloads of virus
software and virus databases which are huge! I recommend this site
because it's a very comprehensive site suitable to the beginner to intermediate
user. They also provide information that professionals also would
be interested in. The site also provides almost anything you would
want to know about viruses such as hoaxes and anti virus software developers.
Computer Virus Help by
Henri Delger
This site is a very quick loading and quick reference
site to the world of virus and anti-virus software. I recommend this
site because considering how large the world of viruses are, this site
manages to pack all the essential information into one web page of valuable
content. Providing information on viruses for both Macintosh and
the PC, Henri Delger takes his virus help site one more step by providing
a Virus Emergency
Room which provides a step by step way to possibly remove a virus.
Doug Muth's Anti-Virus
Help Page
Being short and sweet is what attracted my attention
to this page concerning virus help. This site offers the usual information
on what viruses are and what to do about them, but furthermore, it includes
quality links that lead to anti-virus utilities and a few links to anti-virus
companies. Although being a little more for the intermediate to the
advanced user, this site is highly recommended by myself because it provided
information that I found very useful, like the virus FAQ's and personal
stories.
Back
to Table of Contents
Computer Viruses: Its
Purpose and Who Creates Them:
We all have probably heard about computer viruses,
but what exactly are they? According to various resources around
the net, a virus is a type of software, written and produced by someone,
that attacks a computer in its functionality without the permission of
the computer's user. Another way of looking at viruses is that it
is a specific code that when attached to an .exe or "executable" file,
can cause itself to replicate among the files of a computer. A virus
is also defined by three things. The first is that it is able to
replicate itself among the files within the computer. As it goes
along in its course, most users aren't aware of this. The second
factor is that it requires some sort of carrier or host in order to replicate.
In other words, it can't do its job independently. A third factor
is that it creates damage on the computer host either inadvertently or
deliberately.
Who would you think writes these malicious viruses?
Essentially, practically anyone with a small amount of programming skills
are able to write a virus. This includes people from around the world.
Some are developed by researchers as a means of demonstration, some have
been created simply as jokes, and others are created by ignorant programmers
who just want to boastfully display their programming skills though creating
a virus.
Virus
Functionality and Types:
The intricate work of a virus is quite intriguing.
To begin with, a virus doesn't cause any damage until the program that
is infected is run or has its boot record read. When the virus is
activated by these means, it loads into the computer's memory where it
may replicate itself or perform some event that it was programed to do.
These viruses can then be transported from that system to another system
through sharing of floppy disks and also through downloaded programs from
the internet. It has also been reported that bought programs from
respectable companies, which will remain unnamed, may also carry viruses.
The types of viruses out there is very important
in determining how it affects a computer and what type of destruction it
does. Some of the types are File Infectors, Boot Sector Infectors,
Master Boot Sector Infectors, and Multi-partite Viruses. Being that
the descriptions of these types are very technical, please go to the Symantec
Antivirus Research Center to read the article with the explanation
of these types of viruses.
Famous Viruses:
Some of the most common viruses that are appearing
out in the computing world, according to McAfee's
Techical Support Department are:
Virus Myths:
A virus myth, or rather a virus hoax is something
propagated through the web, usually by e-mail, that indicates in the text
that some virus is embedded within the e-mail text or that there is some
type of virus propagating through the web. I see this as a ploy to
see how far the e-mail can get. Usually within the e-mail, it tells
the recipient to warn as many people about the virus by forwarding the
e-mail to everyone in their address book. What this does is just
create more traffic on the web and more processing of junk e-mail.
One virus hoax that caught my attention was something
called the E-Flu. What this virus hoax claims is that people can
get infected with an actual virus through contact with infected disks or
keyboards that got a virus from the internet. The pranksters that
created this virus hoax even went to the extent to create a web page that
offers a ludicrous remedy which includes procedures such as taking pills
while wiping the "infected" monitor. The remedy page can be seen
here, and
the information about this virus hoax can be viewed here.
I believe that people propagate these virus hoaxes
due to their inexperience with viruses and how they are spread. I've
read articles about these virus hoaxes causing chaos within companies due
to a overprotective, inexperienced supervisor worrying over the e-mail
actions of his/her employees. What it seems to me is that people
are naturally ignorant of these types of happenings, and to solve something
like this is to raise awareness about what viruses are and as one web site
suggested, if someone believes the virus hoax, send them an FAQ from a
respectable company to prove that the supposed danger is nothing more than
just a mere fake.
Significance
of the Existence of Computer Viruses:
When speaking about computer viruses compared to
biological viruses, it seems that they are very much alike. The computer
virus, like a biological virus has to have a host to survive. In
other words, it can't propagate and spread on its own. It has to
be transmitted host to host in order to survive and spread.
In terms of being virtual
"entities", I don't think that viruses will ever become some type of epedemic.
Yes, there has probably been some viruses that have spread widely and in
the case of virus hoaxes, we have seen how far these things may go, but
we have gathered knowledge in the past and as a result we have learned
what viruses are and how to prevent them. Most viruses, I believe,
will be stopped before it actually becomes an epedemic, like biological
viruses, due to the implementation of virus scanners and cleaners that
only get better with time. Although we advance with virus checkers
and other means of defense, the virus creators will also advance in terms
of the complexity of their virus code and execution. To counter this,
the only means is, once again, awareness and protecting ourselves and others
using our knowledge and skills.
As for the intelligent agents that may sniff out
the viruses acting like an immune system in biological organisms, I believe
that unlike its biological companion, this is definitely possible because
the computer world isn't as complex as the human body. Because of
that I see a chance that these viruses can be found and destroyed by and
intelligent agent acting like an immune system.
How People
React to Viruses:
I believe that people react to viruses according
to their level of experience with them. I do believe that getting
a virus is an unpleasant for anyone who encounters it, but a calm and experienced
user would understand the virus and act accordingly in a situation such
as this.
A selection which I found on the web, which can
be viewed here,
is a typical example of what chaos an ignorant user can cause. In
this case, it related to a corporate user who blamed his workers and everyone
else imaginable for propagating a virus that resulted in a loss of valuable
data. In actuality, the fool may have been the boss himself.
As this article reflects, dealing with viruses is a very serious thing.
It is definitely something that may scare people and something that can
cause havoc not only on the computer, but also to people in terms of losing
their jobs for bringing in a virus.
How My Report is
Compared to Others:
All of us have gained from this report in both in
and out of class. We all realized that viruses aren't something that
should be taken lightly but rather approached with concern and respect.
Most of the content which all of us had was similar, as some went into
more detail than others. Some of us went into the specifics, such
as the different parts of a virus, while others took viruses as a general
entity. Both approaches are fine because the technical aspects will
relate well to an advanced user, while the easily comprehensible general
view tends to be favored with novice users.
The presentation of my report had a few more graphics
than my other reports, but my classmates tend to favor more graphics as
the semester goes along. Somw made fine use of the graphics and I
hope to use their pages as an example for mines when I touch up my pages.
A few graphics are better than none at all right?
Back
to Table of Contents
How
Others Can Use my Report:
By reading this, you become part of the knowledge
that we all need to fight against viruses and the like. I believe
that using this web report can help you by teaching you about the different
types and strains of viruses and its offspring, virus hoaxes. Learning
about viruses myself was actually really easy because there is a lot of
information about viruses on the web. I did all of my research off
the web and I believe that you can do that too. Simply typing "viruses"
in any search tool brings up a load of information about viruses, both
biological and virtual.
As for furthering my report, please help me update
by emailing me about the latest viruses and virus hoaxes so that I can
possibly put tp a new section called, "NEW VIRUSES" which I could possibly
keep up to date on. Or that could be a suggestion for your report
as you engage in a possible anti-virus information page also.
Time will only bring improvements in both the complexity
of the viruses themselves and also the technology in the virus detectors
and cleaners. You can use the information in this report and expand
on it by taking notice of the improvements that time brings us.
Conclusion:
Viruses are definitely something that has to be
known. Like how children learn their ABC's in grade school, we have
to teach our children, if they engage on the online world, about viruses
also. Time can only help us in terms of our technology, but I also
have learned that time can also help the virus creators and its propagators.
Awareness and knowledge is the key, and we have
a lot of time for that.
If
you have any suggestions, feel free to email me by clicking here!