7/25/2019 What is a Computer Virus and How Do They Work
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Anatomy of a Virus
Though most computer users have learned to fear viruses, few
really know what they are. Viruses are
programs that replicate themselves inside a computer. The
malicious bug cannot do its damage when a
user simply surfs the Web or opens a plain text message such as
an e-mail. owever, viruses are
unleashed when they are hidden in attachments to e-mail messages
and someone opens that
attachment. After viruses replicate, many carry out damaging
instructions that have been programmed
into them.
!"ome viruses do nothing except replicate,! #eters said. !"ome
will do damage, but not intentionally.
Then again, there are those that attempt - and sometimes succeed
- in destroying all files on the
computer, or subtly altering data in documents, or whatever
nasty thing you can conceive that a computer
program is capable of doing.!
To make matters worse, those who create viruses continually add
new twists to their method of attack.
$ate in %une, the "tages virus struck. &efore "tages,
computer users were assured that viruses could not
be spread through text f iles. "o, when 'icrosoft (utlook users
saw an attachment that appeared as
!$)*+"TA+".TT,! many figured it was safe to open. When they did
so, a humorous test file about
dating appeared.
What users didn/t reali0e was that the attachment was not a text
file but had a hidden ."" extension,
which meant it contained infected computer code. "oon, the virus
was on the loose and e-mailing itself to
everyone in the recipient/s address book.
#eters hopes the recent wave of high-profile viruses will cause
lawmakers to treat the problem as the
potentially serious crime that it is. owever, he said the war on
this scourge re1uires vigilance.
!2es, we/ll become more successful overall,! he said. !&ut
yes, things will get worse, too3 my prediction is
that while more viruses will be prevented on a percentage basis,
there will always be a few high profile
successes by the virus writers.
!Those successes, however, will be short-lived, because
anti-virus companies will be 1uick to create a
solution to each new threat.!
Payloadin computing4sometimes referred to as the actual or body
data5 is the cargo of a data
transmission. )t is the part of the transmitteddatawhich is the
fundamental purpose of the
transmission. #ayload does not include information sent with it
such asheadersor metadata,
sometimes referred to as overhead data, sent solely to
facilitate payload delivery.678698
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_transmissionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_transmissionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_(computing)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_(computing)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Header_(computing)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Header_(computing)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metadatahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payload_(computing)#cite_note-pcmag-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payload_(computing)#cite_note-techterms-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_transmissionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_transmissionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_(computing)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Header_(computing)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metadatahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payload_(computing)#cite_note-pcmag-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payload_(computing)#cite_note-techterms-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computing
7/25/2019 What is a Computer Virus and How Do They Work
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)n computer security, payload refers to the part of malwarewhich
performs a malicious action. 6:8)n
the analysis of malicious software such as worms, viruses and
Tro;ans, it refers to the software/s
harmful results. +xamples of payloads include data destruction,
messages with insulting text or
spurious e-mail messages sent to a large number of people.
)n summary, payload refers to the actual intended message in a
transmission
A replicator is a program or algorithmthat replicates itself
over a computer network
and usually performs malicious actions, such as using up the
computer's resources
and possibly shutting the system down.
A replicator is an object or organism that can make copies of
itself. Examplesabound in the biological world; cells are a common
example. owever,replicators can also be developed in the
electromechanical !or mechatronic"realm. #his is of interest to
researchers innanotechnologyand robotics.
$eplicators can exist in either of two forms, known as
%rst&sense and second&sense. A %rst&sense replicator
makes an exact duplicate of itself, including
any changes that have occurred in its structure after it was
created. Asecond&sense replicator makes a duplicate of itself
as it existed whencreated. n biology, genes are %rst&sense
replicators, while cells in generalare second&sense
replicators. (irst&sense replication is of particular
interest,because it allows for the possibility of machine
evolution.
A macroscale replicator, also called a clanking replicator, is a
robot that canbuild a copy of itself using conventional materials
and parts. magine a robot&building factory in which all the
workers are robots that build other robots)#here might be several
di*erent types !species" of robot, each designed for aparticular
task. Even the factory could, given the right programming of
the
robots as a team, be duplicated. +cience %ction authors have
exploited thistheme by describing how a small team of robots could
be sent to a planet tocolonie it. #he end result would be a planet
with hundreds of robot factories,operated by robot&building
robots.
A nanoscale replicator, also called an assembler, is a
microscopic, self&duplicating machine with dimensions on the
order of billionths of a meter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_securityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malwarehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payload_(computing)#cite_note-securityfocus-3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payload_(computing)#cite_note-securityfocus-3http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/algorithm.htmlhttp://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/nanotechnology-molecular-manufacturinghttp://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/roboticshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_securityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malwarehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payload_(computing)#cite_note-securityfocus-3http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/algorithm.htmlhttp://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/nanotechnology-molecular-manufacturinghttp://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/robotics
