Computer Viruses

This article deals with the problem of computer viruses. The author begins the article by showing why computer viruses grab our attention. He states that on the one hand, viruses show us how vulnerable we are, because a properly engineered virus can have an amazing effect on the worldwide Internet, on the other hand, they show how sophisticated and interconnected human beings have become. In the first part of the article the author gives the definition of term “computer virus” and names different types of computer viruses, such as e-mail viruses, worms and Trojan horses. Then the author analyses computer viruses. The author states that the computer viruses are called viruses because they share some of the traits of biological viruses. He notes that computer virus passes from computer to computer like a biological virus passes from person to person. The author emphasizes that there are similarities at a deeper level and names some of them. Then the author describes how viruses work. He notes that computer virus has an infection phase when the virus is spreading and an attack phase when the virus makes some damage.

The author describes some computer viruses that have appeared recently such as the e-mail virus Melisa, the ILOVEYOU virus, the Slammer worm and the worm called Code Red. Also the author considers some steps that can help users to protect themselves against computer viruses. In this article the motivation of creating computer viruses is analyzed. There are some kinds of motivation. The first one is the same psychology that drives vandals and arsonists. For this sort of people writing computer viruses seems to be a thrill. The second one has to do with the thrill of watching things blow up. Creating a virus that spreads quickly is a little like that – it creates a bomb inside a computer and the more computers are infected the more “funny” is the explosion. The third one probably involves bragging rights or the thrill of doing it.

The author ends the article with describing the factors that caused the appearance of computer viruses. These factors are: the spread of personal computers, downloading programs of all types from the Internet and using of floppy disks. The author notes that viruses took advantage of these three facts to create the first self-replicated programs.

5. Використовуючи наведені вище сталі вирази перекладіть реферат тексту українською мовою.

Computer terrorism

This article deals with the problem of computer terrorism which is very actual one nowadays because our society relies more and more upon computer. The author tells the story of terrorism appearance and gives some definitions of this term, and describes various forms of terrorism: internal terrorism and international one. It is defined the detailed list of various forms of terrorism according to an International Convention which was signed in Geneva on November 16 1937. In this article classification of data-processing criminality is considered. However, the author emphasizes that this classification is not exhaustively. Then the author gives the definition of term “hacking” and discusses some cases of hacking. After that the author begins to research phreaking (the action of pirating telephone networks). The author mentions some cases of phreaking, beginning with 1961.

In this article the author discusses the motivations of computer criminality. It is noted that many hackers explore computer systems trough simple curiosity and for intellectual challenge. “True” hackers have an ethical code prohibiting the destruction of any information. However, some people understood that they could use this particular knowledge to gain advantages. The author gives some examples of computer criminality motivations such as the theft of credit card numbers or telephone hacking.

The author proposes a list of motivations which can incite people to enter the world of computer criminality. They are: money, social recognition, revenge and self-defense. Then the author gives the definitions of viruses, warms and Trojan horses and gives there examples. After that the author stresses that the weakest link in the computer security chain is a man and proves this statement with some examples. The author defines the concept of “computer terrorism” and proposes two definitions:

• Computer terrorism is the act of destroying or of corrupting computer systems with an aim of destabilizing a country or of applying pressure on an government.

• Computer terrorism is the act of doing something intended to destabilize a country or to apply pressure on a government by using methods classified in the category of computer crimes.

Then the author carries out three types of actions against an information system: a physical attack, a syntactic attack and a semantic one. In the last part of the article the author describes the means of computer terrorism implementation. The author names the reason of not occurring the terrorist computer attack. It is the disproportion of the means to implement computer terrorism that results in the fact that terrorist groups remain confined to traditional method. After having made the broad study the author concludes that there will not be a change to computer terrorism in the near future. From the military point of view the author is of the opinion that the Achilles’ heel of the western civilization is information systems. One will need years and millions of dollars to win the computer terrorism.

Теми рефератів

1. Особливості перекладу патентної документації.

2. Переклад інструкцій та специфікацій.

3. Специфіка перекладу заголовків у науково-технічній літературі.