Polymorphic & Cloning Computer Viruses :: essays research papers fc

Polymorphic & Cloning Computer Viruses     The contemporaries of today is growing up in a fast-growing, high-tech introductionwhich allows us to do the impossibilities of yesterday. With the help of moderntelecommunications and the rapid growth of the in the flesh(predicate) computing device in the averagehousehold we ar able to speak to and share selective information with people from allsides of the globe. However, this vast amount of information transport hasopened the doors for the data processor "virus" of the future to flourish. As periodpasses 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 arethey mere nuisances. Since many people depend on the data in their computerevery day to make a living, the risk of catastrophe has increased tenfold. Thepeople who create computer viruses are now becoming much more adept at fashioningthem ha rder to detect and eliminate. These so-called "polymorphic" viruses areable to clone themselves and revision themselves as they need to avoid detection.This form of "smart viruses" allows the virus to harbor a form of artificialintelligence. To understand the path a computer virus works and spreads, startingone must understand few basics about computers, specifically pertaining to theway it stores data. Because of the severity of the damage that these viruses whitethorncause, it is important to understand how anti-virus programs go about detectingthem and how the virus itself adapts to assume the ever changing conditions of acomputer. In much the same way as animals, computer viruses live in complexenvironments. In this case, the computer acts as a form of ecosystem in whichthe virus functions. In value for someone to adequately understand how and whythe virus adapts itself, it must first be shown how the environment isconstantly changing and how the virus can act and deal with these changes.There are many forms of computers in the world however, for simplicitys sake,this study will focus on the most common form of in the flesh(predicate) computers, the 80x86,better known as an IBM compatible machine. The computer itself is run by aspecial piece of electronics known as a microprocessor. This acts as the brainsof the computer ecosystem and could be said to be at the top of the forage chain.A computers primary function is to hold and manipulate data and that is where avirus comes into play. Data itself is stored in the computer via memory. Thereare twain general categories for all memory random access memory (RAM) and corporal memory (hard and floppy diskettes).