Some time ago a virus was created and started its history. By time it developed to the monster of today. During that period many things changed. Our software technology stepped forward with unpredictable pace. Viruses following it become advanced in spreading speed and quantity as well as complexity. Impact of them doesn’t remain just in damaging the physical machine and its components, but virus become tool for spying and stealing or violating peoples’ privacy. Internet technology from start being a blessing evolved to real thread to its users. However probability are still low when one takes certain security measures using available tools for protection. As new viruses are created nothing can protect people entirely. Every user of Internet takes the risk and responsibilities over own security as protection tools and methods are so freely available online.
Every user of Internet can be a virus danger as viruses and tutorials how to make them are freely available on the web site. Danger has tendency to increase as number of people using Internet rises up. As commented by unknown virus creator, “ ‘His viruses are’ wondrous creations written for the sole purpose of spreading and destroying the systems of unsuspecting fools”, we cannot except relief or get rid of them at all.
Since the first pieces of codes had been written and attached to an existing program to create first existing virus, this sort of software underwent many changes. It has been always a program code to do something nasty or destructive, but the storage, activation, behavior, reproduction and final effect have been changing over years. How did the viruses develop in their short history? Talking about the storage the viruses nowadays are not in boot sector like in the past, but the most often get hidden in macros of word documents or templates. They carry out their commands each time the document is open and replicate themselves to every new file created. Also we started using Internet. We use it to transfer data from one place to another. That has become a new great transfer mean for viruses. They don’t have to travel in a floppy or CD-ROM anymore. They can now comfortably take an advantage of Internet to reside in email, email attachment or whatever files. Ability to transfer over the networks and bypass the security measures is some of new forms of behavior, which makes them even more powerful then whenever before. We gave them new names according to what they do or how they hide or behave.
Some of them are virus hoaxes, SHS virus, vandal, Stealth virus, polymorphic virus, worm, retrovirus, Trojan and so on. Until now more than 60000 types of viruses have been identified. Luckily only a few hundred are outside on the networks or circulating without control. However in order to cover their story some questions have to be asked. And first coming up to ones’ mind would be. How viruses spreading speed quantity and complexity have been changed? Associated with the answer is the actual impact or the danger for the user. In addition if it is really dangerous what then the appropriate user protection would be and does it really guarantee real safety. When commenting the safety one turns to people who create the danger. The virus creators or just users? What reasons can lead them to do that? As hacker Emmanuel Goldstein said,” it is an adventure and exploration, fun and technology” what we embrace.
After 16 years of evolution computer virus makes new records almost every year in what is called spreading speed. They are getting better and better in how fast they infect machine as well as how many they infect. It is as the way of spreading is different. Not so much a floppy disk or CD-ROM anymore, but the Internet makes it all possible. To compare those two ways of infection spreading, we need to look at short viruses history. According to Dave Murphy (2001), the first virus was created in 1986 in Lahore Pakistan. It took almost 2 years until 1988 when the first problems were reported. For example, in spring 1988 around 100 machines were infected in The Providence Journal-Bulletin. It was a boot virus and using floppy disk on the different machines spread out the infection.
For comparison as John Leyden (2002) reported, in year 2002 the top viruses like a Klez-H and Bugbear are using Internet for fast spreading of infection. In 30 may 2002 the Klez-H was reported to be the fastest spreading virus at all. Since April MessageLabs has found 775,000 copies and the virus was in one of 300 emails. MessageLabs was blocking 20,000 Klez-H infected emails per day. It was mentioned that ‘athough the infamous Love Bug (may 2000) virus is generally regarded as the fastest spreading virus ever, and accounted for one email in 28 at its peak, its outbreak only lasted a short time, while Klez-H has continued to spread’. Finally in the October 2002, the virus named Burbear has been recorded as even worse than Klez-H. Matthew Broersma (2002) in comments about Burbear confirmed that in MessageLab had 21000 infected messages per day. What makes it the fastest spreading ever in the computer history.
But not only the speed has been on the rise. Also quantity and complexity of viruses created have been increasing by time. It has been as three factors have been revolutionized. Internet has made exceptional growth in spreading across the globe connecting more and more users. It has become simple to use and so exceptionally popular. The numbers of people using Internet and computer literate has been increasing all the time. Furthermore all information for creating virus are readily available online in striking details. This all facts make good ground for increase of viruses’ quantity and complexity, as there are more potential virus writers. As Peter Warren (2002) warned, that the numbers of hackers are on the increase. For instance, British police on 8 December 2002 announced special plea to the business to report any hackers’ crime as 78% of the large-cap companies experienced electronic attacks. Hackers did 45% of it.
However this can get even worse, as the Internet has been still growing quite rapidly.
As Zoraini Wati reported in the Financial Times (2002), that today there are around 230 mil of Internet using people (33.4 worlds’ economy). This number is supposed to jump to 270 millions next year. How many of them can create a virus? As David Pearson (2001) showed in his study it is very easy ‘for Mr. or Ms. Average Computer User to find ready made viruses, the tools, advice and instructions on how to create and propagate their very own virus and malicious code.’ At the final, as Graeme Bennett (2002) commented, ‘With the Internet becoming more popular, it is escalating the growth of the virus generation. Network Associates receives over 300 new viruses each month. In total, more that 40,000 viruses have been identified and we are now seeing more complex, professionally written pieces of code’.
In conclusion virus these days can do damage of any kind to the computer. It can get even activated just by the matter that user received it. Thinking about the worst it can destroy the machine or activate any output devises, access any files inside computer, spy on the user. However the situation is not as bad as it looks. Internet user doesn’t have to see the virus for years. As it was stated in BugNet, ‘Viruses are actually rare. Many PC users go years without encountering a virus.’ However there is a lot of to hear about it in the media. ‘The big PC software vendors have figured out how to commercialize the virus problem.’ On the other hand as reported by Nick Paton (2002), british analysts found out that email sent and received in the UK have one in 300 emails infected. In 1999 it was only one in 1500. Messagelabs also discovered that viruses were growing at a faster rate than Internet traffic. That increases the chances to encounter the virus. Another important aspect is what it (virus) can do to the user. Robert Uhlig (2002) said, “It arrives as an email and records ever typed number or letter to send it back to the virus writer”. It is capable of stealing money from individual computer users.
However ‘Messagelab heard of nobody to have had details stolen and used.’ According to Sarah Left (2001), this new abilities are associated with payloads, which is a code to do anything. Like wiping out your hard drive or sending out email with confidential documents. In addition installation of “Trojan horse” can allow hackers to access any data on remote computer.
However it’s up to every user to protect own privacy or safety of the machine and decrease likelihood of virus’ encounter. There are certain recommendations to follow, but even obeying them doesn’t guarantee ones safety. By all means when not using any of them as mentioned by Jim Aspinwall (2000), user can become very easy victim. They all make user safer. Firstly use of updated anti-virus software and system software security features. Secondly not staying online or even online with browser or other Internet use program running, when you don’t use Internet By all means you still should scan system weekly for viruses. Thirdly it’s better to avoid using programs like outlook express or Netscape massager and when sending confidential emails, it is good practice to use software for encryption. Finally when giving any personal details, make sure that the site is safe. Additionally when browsing Web sites, a cookies are downloaded, delete them after your session. When you want stay anonymous, use special sites like www.idzap.com or ‘http://www.primedius.com/’. It let you visit web sites without leaving trace. Furthermore be particularly carefull when shopping online using your credit card. (Site must have proper encryption) and so on.Evidence of quite necessity to be cautious about that is more often heard news about viruses stealing data from Internet. Just this October as Burhan Wazir (2002) wrote, that a new computer virus was stealing credit card details and distributing confidential email and crashing computers.
Traditionally use of anti-virus programs should help to solve this problem with viruses. However as Joseph Lo (2003) suggested ‘traditional viruses don’t exist anymore. Crackers (aka "hackers") are making Trojans and worms now. This viruses are fast spreading and easily modifiable, than anti-virus are useless to stop them. For stopping a communication between hacker and backdoor program, user can install firewall. Unfortunately this doesn’t stop another Trojan horse to be downloaded to the system with other files.
All this new capabilities of new virus programs made them attractive to certain people. Crackers or hackers? Anybody can create a virus today. There is no more particular motivation or special reason as it is as simple as choose the virus suitable to your needs and downloaded it from the viruses’ creators’ website. Only you need is computer and connection to Internet and only you known reason. Power of destruction, immaturity, money, spying, anything. As the David Pearson (2001) pointed out in his website, viruses or their tutorials are readily available and even 10 years old can create a virus on the tool like [K]alamar's VBS Worm Generator 1.5. His evidence of that is in the table, listing links to live viruses and tutorial on the http://www.oocities.org/screamatawall/viruses.html. From actual listing: Virus Tutorial.......http://www.ummah.org.uk/mhc/virus_tut.html
A tutorial on viruses and how to make them.
Develop a virus.......http://www.webgurru.com/viruses/vtut1.htm
An indepth tutorial on how to develop a virus.
Also many others and 400 live examples to learn from. As commented by unknown virus creator, “ ‘They’ are wondrous creations written for the sole purpose of spreading and destroying the systems of unsuspecting fools” Furthermore in our society are these virus makers admired as again David Pearson described,’ young and old alike admire, look up to and even follow, with cult-like spiritualism, these rather twisted individuals’.
In addition according to Joseph Lo (2003), also crackers are writing a viruses, worms, or Trojan horses. In his description ‘most of them are just bored, anti-social kids who aren't particularly smart and just take advantage of well-known’. When looking from opposite site and using ideas of hacker Emmanuel Goldstein (1998) it is an adventure and exploration, fun, technology what hackers embrace and ‘The true violator of your privacy is the person who made the decision to make them (systems or others comps) easily accessible.’ At the end one interesting web home page of Putoksa Kawayan, a Filipino virus author offering his source codes and live viruses for download. Of course for your collection only. As he said, “It is not my concern what you do with this collection, ‘last words’ have a heart! “
Viruses have been around in this world for last 16 years. By that time they got evolved with dramatic technological changes and application of them to the life of people. In another words technology affects people as well as the people affect technology.
As we look at its infamous part “virus”. Its spreading speed, quantity, complexity have been increasing all the time. Its impact to the machine has been getting worse. Its damage to the user has reached new length. On the other hand protection means available have not been coping with the real danger. In this situation whatever protection measure we undertake, nothing gives us 100% guarantee. But it helps against what was made in the past. User better use all protection available as anybody can download old viruses and modify or use them. The danger is real. This risk is a toll for our freedom on the Internet. Freedom that in this case means that viruses and advises how to make them are readily available for anybody online. Internet made new universal access to the information and all people can use it for good or bad as anything else. We have to take this risk or lose that freedom.
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