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Viruses: Dangerous epidemic or annoyances? By Michael C. Guilmette Jr. Originally published on Feb. 26, 2004, in the Bay Mills News.
Viral programs trace their roots back to the early days of computing, starting as — interestingly enough — programming aids. Programmers would write simple routines to perform tasks like clearing computer memory, tracing a program’s execution or culling results of a program run. Now, these were the days before personal computers. These were the days when a college campus would have one mainframe computer that programmers had to schedule time to use. What’s more, these computers were half as big as a car and had less computing power than a modern pocket calculator. These systems could usually do only one task at a time, and familiar operating systems like Microsoft Windows were still a generation away. As computers slowly advanced and programmers increased in number and ingenuity, minor viral programs and computer pranks were developed, causing some problems but generally just creating annoyances for computer administrators. One of the earliest examples of a virus found ‘in the wild’ — distributed without the knowledge of users — dates back to 1981 and infected Apple II computers. Since this was 11 years before Al Gore allegedly invented the Internet, this viral program was transported via older-style 5 1/4-inch floppy disks, all of which held the necessary disk operating commands that the computer would need to read the disk. Such was the way computer viruses traversed their way through the computing community — devious pieces of code hidden on pirated game disks and lurking in computer labs, thinly scattered around the country. It wasn’t until the popular advent of the Internet and the rapid proliferation of Microsoft Windows that computer viruses became the digital threat that they appear to be today. Even with the advances, though, viruses are still pretty similar in make up to what was seen in the 1980s and 1990s. Typically, viral programs fall into three categories: file-infecting viruses, worms and Trojan horses. File infection viruses pretty well describe themselves, being programs that attach themselves to normal user or system files and spread as these files are moved from computer to computer. Word processing documents are a regular target of such viruses, and the effects of these programs can range from harmless prank messages that pop up at predetermined times to harmful attacks that attempt to overwrite system files. Worms originally were programs that would make several copies of themselves in order to fill up computer memory — an important consideration when memory was small and expensive. Nowadays, worms tend to make copies of themselves by raiding user email address books and sending copies of themselves to each address, which we saw recently with the MyDoom worm. Trojan horses, like the one used against the City of Troy during the Hellenic Wars, are designed to sneak a program onto a computer hiding behind a seemingly innocuous file. One such Trojan is called Back Orifice, a program that sets up a miniature Web server on the target computer and gives a remote user access to the system. Virus programmers will commonly combine the functions of viruses. MyDoom, described as a worm, also acted as a Trojan by depositing a program intended to launch a denial of service attack against the SCO Group Website. SCO is the organization that owns the rights to the UNIX operating system, and is currently locked in legal actions over the use of LINUX, the freeware, open-source operating system that is strongly similar to UNIX. The writer of MyDoom appears to be a LINUX supporter wanting to take sides in the legal strife, but most viruses do not serve much of a purpose other than to propagate themselves or commit mischievous annoyances or relatively minor malicious attacks. Viruses number in the tens of thousands, with 99 percent of them targeting the Microsoft Windows operating systems. Microsoft is the popular target because Windows is on approximately 95 percent of all personal computers and programming flaws have plagued Windows with a myriad of security holes. Even though the name ‘virus’ is firmly attached to viral programs, some computer scientists feel that the term ‘weed’ would be a more apt description. Most viruses are simply annoyances that are easily fixed, but left unchecked, can choke a computer like dandelions can choke a garden. Popular media and fiction has, however, raised public concern about viruses to a level that is unrealistic. Viruses are a common plot tool in science fiction, suspense and B-grade horror movies, and viruses were a central part of the outcome of Arthur C. Clarke’s book “3001,” the culmination of his 2001 book series. Whatever the name, viruses are here to stay. While they carry the potential of being very dangerous, most viruses will be simple annoyances. As with most computer issues, though, a little caution will prevent a lot of headaches. Just don’t try feeding your computer chicken soup. Next issue, I will be discussing the Web browser battle that almost cost Bill Gates, who underestimated the Internet, his multi-billion dollar corporation. • Mike Guilmette is a staff reporter/columnist with the Bay Mills News. His website can be seen at http://www.sigperl.com/. |
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Copyright © 2004, Michael C. Guilmette Jr. |
Virus. The name conjures images of desperate illnesses wreaking havoc on stricken populations. Now, with the advent of electronic communication, virus has taken on an entirely new connotation, but maybe not one it entirely deserves.
