Web Design Issues for the Generational Curriculum

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Introduction: My Thoughts about Mr. Sasabe's Problem
    Akira Sasabe (G7) had a virus problem towards the end of the semester. He wrote in an email message:
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...

    It is no doubt that Mr. Sasabe's files were inflected by computer viruses and all files were erased. He had to redo all the stuffs. Of course, he was so frustrated what had happened to him. Actually, there are many computer Labs in UH campus and most of them are public or open for students. Perhaps, more than ten students has used the same computer each day. If one of the students brings a virus to the computer, then those students who use the computer after him will have chance to be infected by computer virus. Certainly, what I mean is their files or documents in the floppy disks will have chance to be inflected by viruses. When, I was studying in Honolulu Community College, I had experienced that those file in my floppy disk were inflected by three different kind of computer viruses. I still remember this event. One day, after my paper was proofed read by an English tutor, I went to the computer lab to correct and edit the paper in one computer. Then I saved it and tried to print it out. Suddenly, I found out that some paragraphs were missing and some words became symbols. I was so frustrated at that moment because I had to turn it in at the same day. I went home and put the floppy disk to my own computer and immediately, I used the scan virus program to scan it. Three different kind of viruses were found in one floppy disk and several files were inflected. After that horrible experience, I never go to computer labs to do my homework again because I always think that those computers in the computer labs are full of viruses. Actually, I was not the only victim. Some of my friends have experienced computer viruses. I have no idea why nobody goes to clean those viruses. We have complained many many times.

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Computer Hacker and Cracker

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)

    First, I don't know what's the difference between cracker and hacker. One of my told me that cracker is a person who likes to crack programs. For instance, when we install windows 98 into our computers, we have to enter the serial number for it. Otherwise, It can't be installed successfully. A hacker can crack the program. Then, we can install the program without entering the serial number. On the other hand, hacker likes to hack into someone's system or network system. They can upload or download data to or from that system. But both of hacker and cracker also have same characteristics. They are computer experts and they don't like to contribute their knowledge to their society. In contrast, they like to destroy our society. The above news is a good example. They invade the other people's privacy. The worst thing is that they may destroy the whole computer system of a company. Or if the hack to the computer system of an airport and destroy the whole system, It will cause a big disaster.

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General Security Information:

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 (This site doesn't work anymore)
7.csrc.ncsl.nist.gov/virus/

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Recommendation: Anti-Virus Sites

    Because of the destruction of computer virus, people have been creating many sites to teach us how to prevent Computer Virus. "jaring.nmhu.edu/virus.htm" contains many information about computer virus. It also have many links to other famous anti-virus sites such as "Mcafee" or "Dr solomon". I can find everything about computer virus in this site such as jokes, virus description, advice and FAQ, etc.

    "telcom.coos.k12.or.us/vlncourses/bis/viruses.htm" is a very simple website but it teaches people to understand what computer virus is step by step. This site is good for some people who has no idea what computer virus is and how to clean computer virus from their computers.

    "Virus Info" is another good site for some people who wants to learn more about computer virus. This site also tells us how virus effects our computer hardware such as HardDrive or RAM. If someone is very interested about those hardware. This site is good for you.

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What are computer viruses?

A computer virus is a program that is intentionally designed to modify, disrupt, or damage files and programs, and to spread
throughout the system. Viruses cause varying degrees of harm. Some, known as "benign" viruses, may simply display a humorous or innocuous message on the screen, while others, known as "malicious" viruses, can cause loss of precious data
or programs. Even seemingly innocuous viruses, though, can cause problems or unpredictable behavior in application programs. If a virus is using memory or disk resources that a legitimate programs needs, for example, the legitimate program might not operate properly.

What is their purpose?

here are many different kinds of viruses. Viruses come in a wide variety. They are often small and well hidden, therefore difficult to find. Some are slow while others are fast. Some take days, weeks, months or years before they start damaging a computer. They may be benign and result only in amusement or mere annoyance, or they can be malignant and malicious.

Who Creates them? Why?

Viruses can be written by anyone, anywhere in the world, who has enough programming skill. A few have been developed by
researchers for demonstration purposes, and some others are jokes, written by pranksters. Other viruses are written by people
learning programming, who think writing a virus is accomplishing something. In many cases, these viruses get passed around, and later are altered by other people.

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How do they work?

All computer viruses at least take up disk space, and many of them are able to remain in the computer's memory, so as to take
control over some computer functions. In addition, some viruses are poorly written, and may cause the computer to halt, or damage files. Many viruses make the computer's memory unstable, or cause programs to run improperly. Then there are viruses created in recent years that have been deliberately designed to destroy data on the disk.

How do they spread?

While the risk is relatively small, it is growing daily. Viruses circulate from one computer to another, often via diskettes. If you're lucky, you'll never encounter a virus, but one could be concealed in the next file you download, or on the next diskette you receive. Diskettes borrowed from friends, school, or work are common sources, even shrink-wrapped diskettes purchased at stores, or through mail-order. Downloaded programs can be infected, and viruses can travel among networked PCs.

What types are there?

As a general rule, viruses fall into one of three categories:

Boot Sector Virus: This type of virus attaches itself to the boot sector of a floppy disk and then copies itself to the boot sector of your hard drive. Once the virus is on your hard drive, it will continue to infect any floppy disks that are inserted into your floppy drive. You can only get a boot sector virus from an infected floppy disk that your computer attempts to boot from. You can not get a boot sector virus from using programs or files that are on an infected floppy disk.

Program Virus: This type of virus attaches itself to executable files, usually .EXE or .COM files. Once an infected program file is executed, the virus becomes memory resident and then infects all other program files that are executed.

Macro Virus: This is a fairly new type of virus. It is similar to a program virus but actually infects Office application files such as MS Word or MS Excel files. Today's office applications provide the user with the ability to create macros to automate complex or repetitive tasks. The macro virus embeds itself in the Office application file and is activated when the file is opened.

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Famous computer Viruses:

Name: W97M/ZMK.J (World Cup 98)
Type: Word Macro Virus
Description: This macro virus was released to coincide with the final game in the World Cup Finals competition. The activation is set for the 12th or the month or if Word starts when the current second is 12. The virus payload is to delete system and other files. The virus also modifies the autoexec.bat and adds country names to .INI files.

Name: AOL4FREE Trojan Horse
Description: The AOL4FREE.COM Trojan Horse and the AOL4FREE virus hoax should be considered two different warnings.
A real Trojan Horse, AOL4FREE.COM has been spread in e-mail beginning in April, 1997. This Trojan was written on the heels of the AOL4FREE virus hoax, which was reported beginning in March, 1997. This Trojan Horse is usually distributed via e-mail and via downloading of software; its purpose is to delete files on the hard drive once the program is executed. The program is a compiled batch file which runs the DOS DELTREE command to delete information on the user's hard drive. A Trojan (or Trojan Horse) is a program which carries out an unauthorized function while hidden inside an authorized program. It is designed to do something other than what it claims to do, and frequently is destructive in its actions. Any user that encounters the AOL4FREE Trojan Horse or hoax message should not under any circumstances attempt to read or execute this program. If you encounter the hoax message OR the Trojan file, delete them immediately.

Name: CIH
Type: Portable-executable Infector
Description: CIH, which first surfaced in late June 1998, is capable of overwriting MBR's making all the data on hard disks inaccessible. The flash memory chips of some systems are also vulnerable to attack, potentially causing unrecoverable damage. The virus is a Windows95/98 portable-executable file infector that insidiously hides within these files, waiting to infect additional files as they are executed. In general, infected files work correctly, giving no clue that the system is infected. There are a number of Windows 95/98 files which cannot be repaired upon disinfection due to the mechanism by which the virus inserts itself into the files. Windows NT systems may store infected files, though the NT systems themselves cannot be damaged by the virus. The virus has two payloads. One of its capabilities is erasing or damaging the flash memory and/or flash BIOS of some machines. The other is to overwrite the MBR and boot sector. The file acts at the file system level, allowing it to bypass standard BIOS virus protection. There are three virus versions known, which are very closely related They have different lengths, texts inside the virus code and trigger dates.

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What are virus myths?

    Many myths have surfaced about the threat of computer "viruses." There are myths about how widespread they are, how dangerous they are, and even myths about what a computer virus really is. The first thing you need to know is that a computer virus falls in the realm of malicious programming techniques known as "Trojan horses." All viruses are Trojan horses, but relatively few Trojan horses can be called a virus. Viruses, like all Trojan horses, purposely make a program do things you don't expect it to do. Some viruses will just annoy you, perhaps only displaying a "Peace on earth" greeting. The viruses we worry about will try to erase your data (the most valuable asset of your computer!) and waste your valuable time in recovering from an attack.

Describe some that you find astonishing

Some virus myths are really popular and we even don't know which one is true or not. Actually, according to my experience, many virus myths are illogical. There are some examples:

Viruses Come From Online Systems?

Most infected PCs are infected by system sector viruses such as Michelangelo, Stoned, Monkey, or Form. These viruses only spread by booting from an infected diskette. This makes it clear that online communication plays no part in the spread of most viruses.

Viruses Only Infect .com and .exe File?

Viruses also infect system (boot) sectors. These viruses do quite well because sectors do not show up as files and are therefore "invisible" to the average user. System sector viruses account for almost 80% of all in-the-wild infection. Viruses can also infect any file which is in some way executed. This includes device drivers (commonly .SYS or .BIN) and overlay files. It's even possible to write viruses for batch files, word processors, or spreadsheet macros.

You Can Get a Virus From Data?
Since data is not executed, you cannot become infected from data. Some of the pro-virus kiddies love to scare people by perpetuating myths that data or email can transmit viruses (See the Good Times Virus Hoax). If someone sent you a data file that contained a virus, you would have to rename the file and then execute it to become infected!

Why do people propagate them?

I believe that fearfulness is the main reason why people propagate those virus myths. People fear to get computer virus from other people. Then, they begin to make many assumptions why and how they will have chances to get it. Gradually, they believe their assumptions are correct and spread their thoughts out to other people. Because the other people also fear to get virus from some other people, they would spread out their own thoughts how to prevent virus. Soon, everyone believe one's thoughts and assumptions are true.

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Significance:

   It is not overstating the case to say that viruses could interrupt the free flow of information that has been built up by the personal computing in the last 10 years. Indeed, the prevalence of viruses has ushered in a new era of safe computer to the point where those that ignore the guidelines run grave risks. Considering the extreme warnings of danger--and the incidents already on record--it is a mystery that there are those in the computing industry who claim news reports of viruses are exaggerated.  According to AntiVirus Research Center, The National Center for Computer Crime Data in Los Angeles estimates that American business have lost as much as $550 million from unauthorized access to computers yearly. The amount of lost time may be incalculable. As an indication of the severity of the problem, the federal government has helped to form a virus SWAT team called the Computer Emergency Response Team. Its job is to investigate security threats in major computer networks across the country. The Software Publishers Association has also adopted certain measures to address the problem. 
    Furthermore, in the last year many Fortune-listed companies have begun to establish computer policies to
deal with viruses. In many cases those new procedures will set practices for testing in all software before it is put on a network and restrict the downloading of software from electronic bulletin boards. Literally no one who uses computers--not the government nor the police nor even your local bank--is immune from computer viruses. Suppose a space shuttle executed order from a virus-infected software program. Or an air traffic
controller was given incorrect information from a fouled system. Or your company's financial records were suddenly eradicated or permanently altered.

    These are not necessarily fantasies of impending doom. Thus far, computer viruses have hit a variety of systems, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, major universities, newspapers and large networks linking vast numbers of computers and huge volumes of information.

Biological Like:

    computer virus, like a biological virus, uses the resources of its host to reproduce itself without the informed action or consent of its host. Unlike biological viruses, all computer viruses are manmade. They are transferred or spread through network, shared along with files, carried to a computer by a disk or similar means. A computer virus cannot run on its own: the user must take some action, even if it is only turning power to the computer on. Some viruses only cause computers to make strange beeps at certain times, while other viruses can fatally damage memory and file storage. No virus is a good virus, and there are ways to make sure that you do not propagate them.

    I never heard that there is a software can seek out and attack computer virus where ever they hide on the Internet or hard drive. Nowadays, there are many antivirus programs on the computer market but none of them has this kind of advanced functions. In the future,  I believe that it will come true.

The invasion of computer virus

    Different people have different reactions to the invasion of computer virus. One of my friend, he doesn't like computer. I should say that he doesn't use computer much except typing papers. He never checked email and seldom surf webs. Can you imagine that? One day, my friends and I talked about computer virus because last 24th, many computer died because of the famous computer virus "CIH". He said, "None of my business! I don't even have computer at home". One of my friend replied him, "How about if a computer virus destroys your whole record in UH, Still none of your business?" Honestly, what my friend said, was right. Even though some people seldom use computers or don't have any computer at home, It doesn't they can stay away of computer viruses. Nowadays, many things are depending on computers but maybe some people don't realize that. I found a site on the internet and the topic of it is "Honest, Senator! A computer virus ate my Gulf War records". The story is about that a new military report delivered to the Armed Services Committee "concludes that only 36 out of about 200 pages of the logs of the Gulf War record can be found." The AP newswire highlights the military's assumption that It is because of a computer virus. Another story is like that A few years ago, the Houston Police discovered the Joshi virus on its computers. when a newspaper reporter asked how the virus found its way in, department
officials claimed a police officer downloaded an infected game from a bulletin board. Although I don't now whether those stories are true or not, I can't see how computer virus effect our daily life.

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Compare to other students

    In my class 409b, Jason Thompson and Korff   Shehla did the same topic as me. Actually, both of their reports are pretty informative and each of them used different style to do his report. Comparing to Jason, Korff gives more detail information in his report. Comparing their reports with mine, I would say that my report contains more Links.

conclusion:
   I think that my report is quite informative. I did a lot of researches from Internet. It should be quite helpful for the next generation students. Especially, those sites I link to are pretty interesting. I highly recommend those sites to the future generations. As many computer viruses are so destructive, we should learn more how to protect our valuable data in our computers.

Epilogue:

    I have been using a lot of time to do this project but I think it is worth. Because I learned a lot of stuffs of computer virus. Before I did this project, I didn't know much things about computer viruses. Now, at least, I can tell you which virus myth is true and which one is not true. I also learned that there are three major different kind of computer viruses. As computer is so popular, everyone should learn more things about computer. Moreover, computer virus effects our society  lot. We should have enough knowledge and concepts how to prevent computer virus.

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