Part 1. Computer Security Unit 1. Computer Viruses

Start-up

Try to answer these questions:

1. What is a computer virus?

2. How does a virus work?

3. What is the most serious problem: the loss of hardware, software, or the loss of data?

4. What can a virus do?

5. Why do people create viruses?

6. What types of viruses do you know?

7. How is it possible to get rid of viruses?

Reading 1

‘Viruses – Viruses do not respire, nor do they display irritability; they do not move and nor do they grow; however, they do most certainly reproduce, and may adapt to new hosts’.

Now to compare that definition to the computer style of virus, the last statement is certainly the most important – ‘They do most certainly reproduce and may adapt to new hosts’.

A computer virus is a man made program designed to infect a machine, cause a desired side effect: destructive or otherwise and then replicate itself into any other files it may come into contact with. The user of the computer could then pass on this file, completely unaware that it is infected.

Once the infected file is run, the virus then again has a chance to self-replicate and to be passed on. Much in the same way a human virus can cause the person to sneeze to pass itself on, a computer virus can trigger the computer to send out an infected file to as many other computers as possible, often e-mailing itself to everybody in your e-mail address book for example.

So why do people make viruses since there is no way to extract gain from it since even admitting to constructing a virus with intent to cause harm could land you in court? The answer is because they enjoy the challenge, a chance to be acknowledged by fellow hackers and the fact that they can possibly do it without getting caught – basically 21st century vandalism. No one likes a vandal though, and so luckily there are many good programs that are available on the market that allow you to be protected.

Simply speaking, there are two options, you can either buy a Virus Scanner package from a computer store or use a Virus Scanner program for free over the Internet. In the first instance, you won’t go far wrong if you look at the sites for Doctor Solomon’s Anti-Virus, McAfee VirusScan or Norton Anti-Virus. These programs not only scan all the files on your computer for viruses, but also look at files coming onto the computer by e-mail, floppy disk, CD-ROM etc., so that a virus doesn’t even get the chance to strike. Typically, these programs will cost in the region of around £20-£30, and can be easily updated for free off the Internet in order to keep informed about the dozens of viruses that are released daily.

The other option, as I mentioned above is to use a virus scanner over the Internet, essentially free, although you don’t get the same level of protection as a purchased virus scanner, as it will only detect viruses on the computer, and not warn you if a virus is sent by e-mail or attempts to load itself onto the system from a removable drive, such as CD-ROM or floppy disk. This isn’t such a big problem in my opinion, as typically viruses lay dormant for a period of time before triggering and causing damage, so as long as you give your system a quick sweep over the Internet every couple of weeks, you should have no problems, however not all viruses will act in this way and so this tactic is not foolproof by any means.

There are a number of simple common sense steps you can take to ensure that you minimise the possibility of a virus strike. For example, don’t download files from sources that you do not trust or e-mails from addresses you don’t recognise. In addition, many websites continually check the files stored on them for viruses and so always try to download files off these if possible. Finally, be sure to let anybody that uses your computer know that these steps should be followed and your Internet experience should be free of troubles.

Task 1. Make up 10 questions according to the text you’ve just read. Retell the text.

Reading 2

Task 2. Before reading the text, match the words and definitions listed below.

1. a detonator 2. an infector 3. to boot 4. to trigger 5. to erase 6. pirated 7. a shield 8. to detect

a. a protective device b. to remove all traces of smth. с. a device which is used to set off an explosion or other destructive process d. to discover or recognize that something is present e. to set a process in motion f. something which transmits a disease or virus g. stolen, obtained without the owner's consent h. to load the operating system into memory

Now read the text to check your answers to Task 2.