Security for Dummies
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Sunday 29 June 2008, 6:52 PM
Virology Part 1, Introduction
Long ago and far away, in my young years, when I was working as pathologist, dealing with corps, viruses were rather frequent nidus. I left my medical practice, but viruses continue chasing me. Now, dealing with security threats I have to beware of the same old virus hazard. This makes me believe in reincarnation and spiral evolution, karma and fate. But if back in dissecting room the respiratory mask and gloves were the only possible protection, nowadays there are much more prevention means .
Why “virus”?
I never asked this question, but some ask, why these pieces of code are called “virus”. I do not know who first suggested this term, but he definitely is a smart guy with medical background. Viruses in a real world cannot replicate themselves. They need a cell; they integrate themselves into the cell’s DNA, change it and use the resources of the cell for replication, till the moment the cell dies. The same way computer viruses need some environment to live and duplicate. They spread over computer and available files, delete or modify their code and duplicate themselves till the end of computer. Some of computer viruses are not mortal, others are very aggressive. Some are very similar to AIDS. The HID virus attacks lymphocytes, the cells responsible for immune response of the body, computer viruses destroy the anti-virus program.
Who need it?
Actually, I still cannot answer this question. IMHO this is more psychological than pathological issue. People that write viruses have programming knowledge and experience. They could earn much more by creating applications than by destroying. Sometimes I feel that Anti-Virus monsters are responsible. After the attack of Chernobyl virus in 1996, when thousands of motherboards were destroyed in one day by the system overclocking, I suspected hardware manufacturers. These conspiracy ideas are too obvious to be true or too true to be proved. Anyway, virus creation, development or distribution is a crime. So, please behave yourself and stop doing bad things.
Dear Dummies, I will write much more about viruses, worms, malware, spyware, whatsoever in later posts. Please be patient. It will be more interesting later.
Keep reading or subscribe to RSS feed
Why “virus”?
I never asked this question, but some ask, why these pieces of code are called “virus”. I do not know who first suggested this term, but he definitely is a smart guy with medical background. Viruses in a real world cannot replicate themselves. They need a cell; they integrate themselves into the cell’s DNA, change it and use the resources of the cell for replication, till the moment the cell dies. The same way computer viruses need some environment to live and duplicate. They spread over computer and available files, delete or modify their code and duplicate themselves till the end of computer. Some of computer viruses are not mortal, others are very aggressive. Some are very similar to AIDS. The HID virus attacks lymphocytes, the cells responsible for immune response of the body, computer viruses destroy the anti-virus program.
Who need it?
Actually, I still cannot answer this question. IMHO this is more psychological than pathological issue. People that write viruses have programming knowledge and experience. They could earn much more by creating applications than by destroying. Sometimes I feel that Anti-Virus monsters are responsible. After the attack of Chernobyl virus in 1996, when thousands of motherboards were destroyed in one day by the system overclocking, I suspected hardware manufacturers. These conspiracy ideas are too obvious to be true or too true to be proved. Anyway, virus creation, development or distribution is a crime. So, please behave yourself and stop doing bad things.
Dear Dummies, I will write much more about viruses, worms, malware, spyware, whatsoever in later posts. Please be patient. It will be more interesting later.
Keep reading or subscribe to RSS feed
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