Why Are Computer Viruses Perceived as Harmful?
Why Are Computer Viruses Perceived as Harmful?
About a year ago, we asked the participants of the electronic forum Virus–L/comp.virus, which is dedicated to discussions about computer viruses, to list all reasons they could think about why do they perceive the idea of a "beneficial" virus as a bad one. What follows is a systematized and generalized list of those reasons.
This section lists the arguments against the "beneficial virus" idea, which have a technical character. They are usually the most objective ones.
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2.1.1. Lack of Control
Once released, the person who has released a computer virus has no control on how this virus will spread. It jumps from machine to machine, using the unpredictable patterns of software sharing among the users. Clearly, it can easily reach systems on which it is not wanted or on which it would be incompatible with the environment and would cause unintentional damage. It is not possible for the virus writer to predict on which systems the virus will run and therefore it is impossible to test the virus on all those systems for compatibility. Furthermore, during its spread, a computer virus could reach even a system that had not existed when that virus has been created—and therefore it had been impossible to test the virus for compatibility with this system.
The above is not always true—that is, it is possible to test the virus for compatibility on a reasonably large number of systems that are supposed to run it. However, it is the damaging potential of a program that is spreading out of control which is scaring the users.
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2.1.2. Recognition Difficulty
Currently a lot of computer viruses already exist, which are either intentionally destructive or otherwise harmful. There are a lot of anti–virus programs designed to detect and stop them. All those harmful viruses are not going to
About a year ago, we asked the participants of the electronic forum Virus–L/comp.virus, which is dedicated to discussions about computer viruses, to list all reasons they could think about why do they perceive the idea of a "beneficial" virus as a bad one. What follows is a systematized and generalized list of those reasons.
This section lists the arguments against the "beneficial virus" idea, which have a technical character. They are usually the most objective ones.
Back to the Table of Contents
________________________________________
2.1.1. Lack of Control
Once released, the person who has released a computer virus has no control on how this virus will spread. It jumps from machine to machine, using the unpredictable patterns of software sharing among the users. Clearly, it can easily reach systems on which it is not wanted or on which it would be incompatible with the environment and would cause unintentional damage. It is not possible for the virus writer to predict on which systems the virus will run and therefore it is impossible to test the virus on all those systems for compatibility. Furthermore, during its spread, a computer virus could reach even a system that had not existed when that virus has been created—and therefore it had been impossible to test the virus for compatibility with this system.
The above is not always true—that is, it is possible to test the virus for compatibility on a reasonably large number of systems that are supposed to run it. However, it is the damaging potential of a program that is spreading out of control which is scaring the users.
Back to the Table of Contents
________________________________________
2.1.2. Recognition Difficulty
Currently a lot of computer viruses already exist, which are either intentionally destructive or otherwise harmful. There are a lot of anti–virus programs designed to detect and stop them. All those harmful viruses are not going to