Polymorphic & Cloning Computer Viruses :: essays research papers fc

Polymorphic & Cloning Computer Viruses     The generation of today is maturement up in a fast-growing, high-tech worldwhich allows us to do the impossibilities of yesterday. With the help of moderntelecommunications and the rapid growth of the personal computer in the modal(a)household we are able to talk to and share in habitusation with people from allsides of the globe. However, this vast amount of information transport hasopened the doors for the computer " virus" of the future to flourish. As timepasses on, so-called "viruses" are becoming more and more adaptive and dangerous.No longer are viruses merely a oddity among computer users and no longer arethey mere nuisances. Since many people depend on the data in their computerevery day to bring a living, the risk of catastrophe has increased tenfold. Thepeople who create computer viruses are now becoming much more adept at dothem harder to detect and eliminate. These so-called "po lymorphic" viruses areable 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 artificialintelligence. To understand the way a computer virus works and spreads, firstone must understand some basics nearly computers, specifically pertaining to theway it stores data. Because of the severity of the damage that these viruses maycause, it is important to understand how anti-virus programs go about detectingthem and how the virus itself adapts to meet 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 order 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 interact and deal with these changes.There are many forms of computers in the world however, for simplicitys sake,this paper will focus on the most common form of personal 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 food 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 two general categories for all memory random access memory (RAM) andphysical memory (hard and floppy diskettes).