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Lexikon

virus

(By analogy with biological viruses, via SF) A program or piece of code written by a ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=cracker">cracker that "infects" one or more other programs by embedding a copy of itself in them, so that they become ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=Trojan horses">Trojan horses. When these programs are executed, the embedded virus is executed too, thus propagating the "infection". This normally happens invisibly to the user. A virus has an "engine" - code that enables it to propagate and optionally a "payload" - what it does apart from propagating. It needs a "host" - the particular hardware and software environment on which it can run and a "trigger" - the event that starts it running. Unlike a ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=worm">worm, a virus cannot infect other computers without assistance. It is propagated by vectors such as humans trading programs with their friends (see ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=SEX">SEX). The virus may do nothing but propagate itself and then allow the program to run normally. Usually, however, after propagating silently for a while, it starts doing things like writing "cute" messages on the terminal or playing strange tricks with the display (some viruses include ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=display hacks">display hacks). Viruses written by particularly antisocial ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=crackers">crackers may do irreversible damage, like deleting files. By the 1990s, viruses had become a serious problem, especially among ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=IBM PC">IBM PC and ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=Macintosh">Macintosh users (the lack of security on these machines enables viruses to spread easily, even infecting the operating system). The production of special ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=antivirus software">antivirus software has become an industry, and a number of exaggerated media reports have caused outbreaks of near hysteria among users. Many ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=lusers">lusers tend to blame *everything* that doesn' t work as they had expected on virus attacks. Accordingly, this sense of "virus" has passed into popular usage where it is often incorrectly used for a ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=worm">worm or ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=Trojan horse">Trojan horse. See ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=boot virus">boot virus, ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=phage">phage. Compare ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=back door">back door. See also ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=Unix conspiracy">Unix conspiracy. [ref="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=Jargon File">Jargon File] (2003-06-20)

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