PC Viruses

How they got the name

What they are
How they spread
How to prevent them
 PC Viruses

How they got that name

 PC Viruses
How they got the name

 Computer viruses are called viruses

because they share some of the traits
of biological viruses.
• A computer virus passes from computer
to computer like a biological virus passes
from person to person.
 PC Viruses
How they got the name

 A biological virus is not living.

• It’s a fragment of DNA inside a protective
jacket. Unlike a cell, a virus has no way
to do anything or to reproduce by itself --
it is not alive.
 Computer viruses also can not
reproduce by themselves
 PC Viruses
How they got the name

 A biological virus inject itself into a

cell
• And uses the cell's existing machinery to
reproduce itself
 A computer virus “piggybacks” on top
of a program or document
• And “reproduces (gets executed)
• Once running, it’s able to infect other
programs or documents
PC Viruses

What they are

 PC Viruses
What they are

 A virus is a small piece of software

(code) that piggybacks on real
programs, like Excel, that have
“embedded executable languages”
• Macro languages -- Visual Basic, etc.
• Each time the program runs the virus
runs, too
• and it has the chance to reproduce (by
attaching to other programs) or wreak havoc.
 PC Viruses
What they are

1. E-mail viruses
• An e-mail virus moves around in
attachments to e-mail messages, and
usually replicates itself by automatically
mailing itself to dozens of people in the
victim's e-mail address book.
 Example of
E-Mail Viruses
 CIH. The Chernobyl virus (also known as CIH)
triggers on April 26 each year
 The Anna Kournikova worm. ...
 ILOVEYOU. ...
 The Melissa virus. ...
 The Blaster Worm. ...
 Netsky and Sasser. ...
 OSX/RSPlug Trojan. ...
 Storm worm.
 PC Viruses
What they are

2. Trojan Horse
• A Trojan horse is a computer program
• The program claims to do one thing
(it may claim to be a game)
but instead does damage when you run it
(it may erase your hard disk)
• Trojan horses have no way to replicate
automatically.
 PC Viruses
What they are

3. Worms
• A worm is a small piece of software that
uses computer networks and security
holes to replicate itself.
• A copy of the worm scans the network for
another machine that has a specific security
hole.
• It copies itself to the new machine and starts
replicating from there
 PC Viruses
What they are

 Worms and Trojan horses are actually

more common today than viruses.
• Antivirus programs offer protection
against all viruses, worms, and Trojans
• refer to all of these types of malware as
viruses.
PC Viruses

How they spread

 PC Viruses
How they spread

 A virus runs first when a legitimate

program is executed.
• The virus loads itself into memory and
looks to see if it can find any other
programs on the disk.
• If it can find one, it modifies it to add the
virus's code to the new program.
• Then the virus launches the "real program."
 PC Viruses
How they spread

 The user has no way to know that the

virus ever ran.
• Unfortunately, the virus has now
reproduced itself, so two programs are
infected.
• The next time either of those programs
gets executed, they infect other
programs, and the cycle continues.
 PC Viruses
How they spread

 When the infected program

• is distributed by
• floppy disk
• uploaded to a bulletin board
• zipped and delivered as an executable
• then other programs get infected
 This is how viruses spread
 PC Viruses
How they spread

 Virus Attacks
• Some sort of trigger will activate the
attack phase, and the virus will then "do
something”
• Anything from printing a silly message on
the screen to erasing all of your data.
• The trigger might be a specific date, or the
number of times the virus has been replicated,
or something similar.
 PC Viruses
How they spread

 Virus creator’s tricks

• load viruses into memory so they ran in
the background
• infect the boot sector on floppy disks and
hard disks
 PC Viruses

How to prevent them

 PC Viruses
How to prevent them

 Run a secure operating system

security features keep viruses away
 Buy virus protection software
 Avoid programs from unknown
sources (like the Internet)
 Stick with commercial software
purchased on CDs
PC Viruses

Resources
 PC Viruses
Resources
 www.tokyopc.org/ Chit Chat Newsgroup -- Chit Chat “Personal Computer Virus Attacks”
 www.vmyths.com/ This site is NOT sponsored by antivirus companies – it lists virus
hoaxes
 www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html Here’s another hoax site, from Symantec
 www.symantec.com/avcenter/ Symantec Security Advisory site
 www.howstuffworks.com/virus.htm How computer viruses work
 www.cert.org/other_sources/viruses.html Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering
Institute, CERT® Coordination Center Computer Virus Resources
 www.virusbtn.com/ Virus Bulletin Independent Anti Virus Advice
 www.ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACVirusDatabase.html Although the Computer Incident
Advisory Capability site (associated with the DOE) is no longer being maintained, it has
loads of advice and information about PC and Mac viruses. Also links to other sites that
are being maintained.
 www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,2248291,00.html ZD Nets tells
you how to protect against computer viruses.
 PC Viruses
Resources
 www.special.northernlight.com/compvirus/ Current news, Journal articles and
editorials; Virus Writers and Hackers; Journals, Portals and Reference; US
Government Resources; Web bugs; Malware, Spyware, Adware and Trojan Horses;
Diagnostics; Anti-Virus Solutions (over 30 of them!)
 www.research.ibm.com/antivirus/SciPapers/Wells/HOWTOSPOT/howtospot.ht
ml Joe Wells seminar and funny paper on getting “in the know”
 www.jaring.nmhu.edu/virus.htm Computer viruses have been with us since the
late 1980s and continue to increase in number. The following list includes some of the
best sites on the Internet for describing computer viruses as well as links to many of
the top anti-virus software sites. From Wayne Summers at New Mexico Highlands
University.
 www3.ca.com/virusinfo/ More than I ever wanted to know about computer viruses.
The Virus Information Center serves as a rich, up-to-the-minute resource, containing
detailed information on viruses, worms, Trojans, and hoaxes, as well as valuable
documentation on the implementation of comprehensive antivirus protection. CA’s
eTrust Antivirus Research Centers monitor around-the-clock to defend against the
damaging effects a virus outbreak could cause.
 PC Viruses
Resources
 www.sophos.com/virusinfo/whitepapers/videmys.html An introduction to
computer viruses written by Carole Theriault, carole.theriault@sophos.com, Sophos
Plc, Oxford, UK and first published in: October 1999
 www.cknow.com/vtutor/index.htm Computer Knowledge Virus Tutorial
 www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,6276,00.asp PC Magazine Personal Antivirus
Article
 www.wildlist.org/ The world's premier source of information on which viruses are
spreading In the Wild. But don't take our word for it. Read what PC Magazine,
MSNBC an others have to say about us
 www.research.ibm.com/antivirus/SciPapers.htm With scientific papers titled,
Where There’s Smoke, There’s Mirrors, how can you go wrong?
 http://vil.mcafee.com/dispVirus.asp?virus_k=99728McAfee detailed information
on latest virus released into the Wild.
PC Viruses

Thank you!