Computer Viruses Essay Research Paper Polymorphic

Computer Viruses Essay, Research Paper

Polymorphic & Cloning Computer Viruses

The

generation of today is growing up in a fast-growing, high-tech world which

allows us to do the impossibilities of yesterday. With the help of modern

telecommunications and the rapid growth of the personal computer in the average

household we are able to talk to and share information with people from all

sides of the globe. However, this vast amount of information transport has

opened the doors for the computer "virus" of the future to flourish.

As time passes on, so-called "viruses" are becoming more and more

adaptive and dangerous. No longer are viruses merely a rarity among computer

users and no longer are they mere nuisances. Since many people depend on the

data in their computer every day to make a living, the risk of catastrophe has

increased tenfold. The people who create computer viruses are now becoming much

more adept at making them harder to detect and eliminate. These so-called "polymorphic"

viruses are able to clone themselves and change themselves as they need to avoid

detection. This form of "smart viruses" allows the virus to have a

form of artificial intelligence. To understand the way a computer virus works

and spreads, first one must understand some basics about computers, specifically

pertaining to the way it stores data. Because of the severity of the damage that

these viruses may cause, it is important to understand how anti-virus programs

go about detecting them and how the virus itself adapts to meet the ever

changing conditions of a computer. In much the same way as animals, computer

viruses live in complex environments. In this case, the computer acts as a form

of ecosystem in which the virus functions. In order for someone to adequately

understand how and why the virus adapts itself, it must first be shown how the

environment is constantly changing and how the virus can interact and deal with

these changes. There are many forms of computers in the world; however, for

simplicity.s sake, this paper will focus on the most common form of personal

computers, the 80×86, better known as an IBM compatible machine. The computer

itself is run by a special piece of electronics known as a microprocessor. This

acts as the brains of the computer ecosystem and could be said to be at the top

of the food chain. A computer.s primary function is to hold and manipulate

data and that is where a virus comes into play. Data itself is stored in the

computer via memory. There are two general categories for all memory: random

access memory (RAM) and physical memory (hard and floppy diskettes). In either

of those types of memory can a virus reside. RAM is by nature temporary; every

time the computer is reset the RAM is erased. Physical memory, however, is

fairly permanent. A piece of information, data, file, program, or virus placed

here will still be around in the event that the computer is turned off. Within

this complex environment, exists computer viruses. There is no exact and

concrete definition for a computer virus, but over time some commonly accepted

facts have been related to them. All viruses are programs or pieces of programs

that reside in some form of memory. They all were created by a person with the

explicit intent of being a virus. For example, a bug (or error) in a program,

while perhaps dangerous, is not considered a computer virus due to the fact that

it was created on accident by the programmers of the software. Therefore,

viruses are not created by accident. They can, however, be contracted and passed

along by accident. In fact it may be weeks until a person even is aware that

their computer has a virus. All viruses try to spread themselves in some way.

Some viruses simply copy clones of themselves all over the hard drive. These are

referred to as cloning viruses. They can be very destructive and spread fast and

easily throughout the computer system. To illustrate the way a standard cloning

virus would adapt to its surroundings a theoretical example will be used. One

day a teacher decides to use his/her classroom Macintosh.s Netscape to

download some material on photosynthesis. Included in that material is a movie

file which illustrates the process. However, the teacher is not aware that the

movie file is infected with a computer virus. The virus is a section of binary

code attached to the end of the movie file that will execute its programmed

operations whenever the file is accessed. Then, the teacher plays the movie. As

the movie is being played the virus makes a clone of itself in every file inside

the system folder of that computer. The teacher shuts down the computer

normally, but the next day when it is booted up all of the colors are changed to

black and white. The explanation is that the virus has been programmed to co

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать