viruses

[jaberwocky]

can anyone enlighten me as to where computer viruses come from.i mean does someone put one into circulation or can they just appear from wherever.thanks

[Ethel]

They originate from a bored geek with a vicious streak, who sends it out in numerous ways.

This is a good article:

http://www.crews.org/curriculum/ex/compsci/art icles/virusarticle.html

[barrsp]

A virus is written intentionally either by an individual or a group of individuals. Originally it was a like a contest between hackers to see who's was the best and who's could do better things than the previous. It was also driven by a hate of Microsoft. A lot of viruses are written to gather information be it personal or commercial and used to advertise rubbish via pop ups and email. Some, but not all, are written to cause as much damage as possible.

Hope that helps.

[fo3nix]

Just to add, a virus is really just a program that acts by itself. Viruses don't have to be bad, under this definition. It just happens that everyone that writes them makes them do not-great things.

The way they're distributed is often down to small flaws in the operating system that they're written for.

[Space]

in the past, viruses ( or virii ? ) were either :
a form of vandalism ( some sick people enjoy wrecking other people's computers )
or an ego thing ( some geeks would love to see a virus they made being talked about on TV, it's their idea of being famous )

But nowadays, it's often for theft purposes ( steal passwords and credit card numbers, etc )

[jake-the-peg]

Fo3nix I may be biased because I work in the anti-virus industry but viruses do have to be bad

Why am I so adamant about that? Because they are uncontrolled and unauthorised code that runs on your computer without your klnowledge or consent - that's bad!

As Space implies there was a time when viruses were written by script kiddies who couldn't get a date but they grew up, got dates, and mortgages and jobs with the Russian maffia

Like this lot
http://www.zdnetindia.com/news/security/storie s/168756.html

Viruses are technically speaking one section of what we'd call malware - there are also trojans worms and other variations on the theme.

Possibly the nastiest and most difficult to defend against is the so called zero-day attack. In thissort of attack a bug in a program like windows is exploited to attack computers on the same day or before the bug is made public. This is why it's very important to keep your machine patched and updated as much as possible.

Don't think that nobody would be interested in your computer though. These people try to infect thousands of computers to quietly steal some of their resourses for their own ends. These are called 'bot nets' or 'bot armies' (from robot). Sometimes these networks of hijacked machines have even been known to be rented out by the hour.

I know all this sounds like an advert for the AV industry but there are simple things you can do without spending loads of money - like I said stay up to date with patches and updates and please, please, please back up important data.

Remember old fashioned people break into houses and steal computers too! What would you do if that happened to you?

[rojash]

Sorry jake-the-peg, but you are wrong. By definition a virus is simply a program that is capable of replicating and propagating itself. It's just that your industry uses a particularly narrow definition to suit its own purposes.

[jake-the-peg]

Perhaps you'd like to give me an example of a 'good' virus then

[RATTER15]

Im no geek but I can see you are both right!!

[RATTER15]

A virus is just a programme that replicates itself, nothing bad in that as such, but they are never used with good intention, sometimes harmless but never good!!

[Hammer]

Suppose I wrote a virus that completely fixed all security holes in windows, defragged your hard drive, changed some settings to improve the efficiency of your processor and changed your dial-up connection to the freephone number of the �Hammer ISP� which I set up just to save you all money. It would then send itself to all of your contacts to do the same. I am such a good programmer that all these actions are guaranteed to do only good and there will never be any ill-effects.

Surely this is still a virus since it is uninvited and self-replicating, but it is a �good virus�?

Jake, what do you reckon?

[RATTER15]

Hammer, I know what you are saying but, such a thing is not existence!! and if it invades your computer and makes uninvited changes without the knowledge of the owner, I'm not sure that it would be deemed as "Good" but if you to find one, I bags being the first to be infected by it!! I have turned off all my virus scanners etc to enable easy access just to ensure it reaches me!!!

[MrBen5]

You mean you can really do that Hammer?

[jake-the-peg]

I reckon if you wrote a virus or any program to do anything on my computer I would want to be able to determine if, how and when it ran.

It is an issue of control.

[Hammer]

I was just trying to clarify what the definition of virus is. Is it something that b*ggers up your PC, or is it just something that comes in uninvited?

I'm trying to pick a fight with jake-the-peg really. He said "viruses do have to be bad" and asked for an example of one that doesn't, so I provided one.

I completely agree with the control issue, however a program doesn't have to be damaging to be a virus, imho.

[jake-the-peg]

And I still maintain that uninvited code is by definition bad.

But don't feel bad about not being able to find one, you're in good company there's a prize still unclaimed for a 'good virus'

http://www.cknow.com/vtutor/AreThereGoodViruse s.html

Probably though the summary is more precice than my contention. They say there is no task that 'requires' a virus

[jaberwocky]

thanks to all.personally,if i knew someone who had put out a virus,i'd tear his throat out. too harsh you think?