Computer Viruses . . .

1
Computer Viruses . . .

• Even the name strikes fear in the hearts of the
  most valiant!

Peggi Clanton
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Common Questions About Computer Viruses

• What exactly IS a computer virus?
• How do we catch them?
• How much damage can viruses do?
• How do we get avoid and get rid of them?
• What are the most common viruses?
• Who writes viruses and why?

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What is a computer virus?

• A virus is a set of illicit instructions imbedded
  in a file that passes itself on to other files
  with which it comes into contact. It is a form of
  vandalism. People often confuse computer worms
  with viruses. A worm is a program that transfers
  itself from computer to computer over a network
  and plants itself as a separate file on the
  target computers disks. Worms are rare, but
  quite contagious.

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How do we catch computer viruses?

• The most common way to spread a virus is by
  downloading something from the internet perhaps
  free software. Often a virus has been written
  into the program. It may not show up for hours,
  days, or months.
• They can be transmitted by diskettes from
  computer to computer.
• A diskette brought from home with a virus then
  taken to work or school and placed in a network
  computer can infect the entire network.
• You dont get them from surfing the web.
• Generally, you dont get them from reading email.
  Most viruses that come with emails are in
  attachments that have to be opened.

5
How much damage can viruses do?

• Some viruses are more like pranks and just do
  silly things, but still cause lost time and
  stress.
• Some can erase any file you try to load from your
  disk.
• Some destroy your hard drive.
• Some flash pornographic pictures or messages on
  your screen
• Some corrupt data
• Some make letters drop to the bottom of the
  screen
• Some send e-mails (with the virus) to everyone in
  your address book

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What can we do about viruses?

• Prevention is the answer. We should keep an up to
  date anti-virus program on our computers at all
  time. Visit the website for your particular
  program often for updates as new viruses and
  worms are written constantly.
• If you find that there is a virus on your
  computer, a good virus scanner can usually clean
  and repair it. If not, you may have to take your
  computer for evaluation.
• Wondering how they figure the viruses out? The
  anti-virus software searches for a virus
  signature, a unique string of bits. When new
  viruses are discovered, they are named and
  published.
• Your anti-virus software can be set to scan every
  time you boot the computer or at regular
  intervals, whatever your preference is.

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The most common viruses worms?

• Jerusalem deletes any program executed on
  Friday the 13th
• Cascade picks random text characters and drops
  them to the bottom of the screen
• Michelangelo destroys all data on the hard disk
  on March 6, Michelangelos birthday
• Melissa macro virus distributed as an e-mail
  attachment that, when opened, disables a number
  of safeguards in Word 97 or 2000, and, if the
  user has the MS Outlook e-mail program, causes
  the virus to be resent to the 1st 50 people in
  the users address book
• Ripper corrupts data written to a hard disk
  approximately 1 time out of 1000
• MDMA affects Microsoft Word files can delete
  files

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Who writes viruses why?

• In the past, viruses were written mostly by young
  males. Now, they are more sophisticated, older,
  and trade ideas over the internet.
• Psychologists say that they do it to brag to
  impress their friends.
• It is believed that there are hundreds of virus
  writers worldwide.
• There are thousands of known viruses, but the
  majority of the major damage done by them is done
  by about a dozen.
• As a side note, a retro-virus has been written
  that fights anti-virus software may even be
  able to delete it!

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The Internet . . .

• And its Unique
• Security Privacy Problems

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Lets name a few of these Problems

• Network security
• Networked employees privacy issues
• Web privacy issues
• Spam (not the canned meat!)
• Legislation

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Network Security

• Whether a network is connected to the internet or
  not, it poses a unique security (and privacy)
  problem. In order to allow so many people (from
  remote locations) access to the same information,
  it is extremely difficult to keep unauthorized
  people from attaining access. Companies are
  concerned with industrial spies, disgruntled
  workers, thieves, and hackers.
• One of the most common approaches is the use of a
  firewall a combination of hardware software
  that sits between the companys intranet the
  internet. All traffic between the two goes
  through the firewall it protects against
  unauthorized access. It can also keep the
  employees from accessing inappropriate websites
  on the internet.
• Encryption is a way of scrambling data that is
  sent over communication lines. The date is put in
  a code that can only be deciphered by the
  receiver that has the encryption key. There is a
  Date Encryption Standard that has endorsed a
  standardized private key encryption where senders
  receivers use the same key. Public key
  encryption systems are convenient by having a
  pair of keys. The receiver keeps one key private
  makes the other public. That way, anyone can
  encrypt a message to the receive (like for
  purchasing online). RSA is the most common.

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Network Employee Privacy Issues

• What employees consider spying, employers often
  consider monitoring.
• Software is available that allows managers to
  pull up employees current computer screen, check
  their e-mail (and history), number of keystrokes
  per minute, note the length of breaks, and
  monitor which computer files are used and for how
  long all without the employees knowledge!
• Worker associations state that monitored workers
  suffer much more stress than unmonitored workers.
  And privacy groups are lobbying legislators to
  enact legislation that will require employers to
  at least alert employees that they are being
  monitored.
• Employers state that monitoring is necessary for
  training, monitoring resources, and helping
  employees.

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Web Privacy

• We can be monitored when we are on the internet
  by the sites that we visit. It can collect
  everything from the city that you are calling
  from, the site that you were at previously, to
  what you do while on that site.
• There is a software available that monitors click
  stream, the series of mouse clicks that link from
  site to site. This creates a history of what the
  user views on the web.
• Web servers store information about us in a
  cookie, a small text file that is stored on our
  own hard drive sent back to the browser each
  time you visit the site. Online brokerages
  shopping are two convenient examples. However,
  they can also be used to put more advertisements
  on your screen by having traced your interests.
  It is possible to set your browser to refuse all
  cookies or to warn you when a site attempts to
  store a cookie on your computer.
• Platform for Privacy Preference Project (P3P) is
  a set of standards that allows a web site server
  to transmit its privacy policies electronically
  to the user. Participation is voluntary, however.

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Spam

• Junk e-mail seems to get worse and worse.
  Sending mass unsolicited emails is called
  spamming.
• It would cost about 800,000 to mail an
  advertisement to a million people. It only costs
  a few hundred dollars to send it on the internet.
  Thus spam!
• Junk e-mail can be misleading with subject
  lines that sound personal or say things like
  Heres the information that you requested
• The best way to slow it down is to NEVER open it
  NEVER EVER respond to it!
• Filter software gives some protection some
  internet providers offer filtering.
• Most experts suggest using one name for e-mail
  and one name for surfing the web and never
  opening any e-mails that come in under the name
  that you use on the web.

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Legislation

• Legislation has been slow in coming for internet
  problems as there is nothing prior to base it on.
• The state of Washington passed a law in 1998 that
  bans unsolicited commercial e-mail with
  misleading information in the subject line.
• AOL won 7 million in a suit against a spammer
  due to a Virginia law passed in 2002.
• November 22, 2003 Anti-Spam bill passed the US
  House of Representatives
• November 25, 2003 Anti-Spam bill passed the US
  Senate
• January, 2004 Anti-Spam bill will go to the
  President

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Works Cited

• Brain, Marshall, http//computer.howstuffworks.com
  /virus.htm
• Capron, H.L. Johnson, J.A., Computers Tools
  for an Information Age.
• Mark, Roy, http//dc.internet.com/news/article.php
  .311361 Anti-Spam Bill Clears Senate
• McGuire, David, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/arti
  cles/A5892-2003Nov22.html House Passes Anti-Spam
  Bill
• Mueller, Scott Hazen, http//spam.abuse.net Fight
  Spam on the Internet
• www.vmyths.com/ Truth about computer security
  hysteria (no author listed)
• www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.htm Security
  Response - Hoaxes (no author listed)
• www.itworld.com/Man/2689/ Employee Privacy (no
  author listed)