Brodels816@aol.comthis is for college level computer...i got a 95% on it...hopefully it willhelp someone. Protection Against Viruses for All The word virus can be very disheartening, especially when computers areinvolved. A virus is composed of instructions hidden inside a program. Theseinstructions copy themselves to other programs, and the cycle continuesspreading. Fortunately, help is available; antivirus software is available toanyone. "Viruses first appeared in 1985. Then, they were largely created inuniversity laboratories by mostly wayward geniuses keen to pit theirprogramming skills against each other. Since then, errant programmers beganto create newer and more destructive viruses targeted at specific usergroups." (Yang, 1998) A computer virus can be as "evil as it sounds, snakingits way into personal computers, posing an occasional annoyance or a seriousthreat to all data." (Miastkowski, 1998) Symptoms can range from unpleasantto fatal. Computer viruses spread from program to program and computer tocomputer, "much as biological viruses spread within individual...members of asociety." (Chess, 1997) Diskettes were the "primary carriers of viruses inthe 1980s." ("Computer," 1997) Today, they are e-mail attachments, filetransfers and infected software downloads or uploads. Networks can evenspread viruses to large numbers of connected PCs rapidly. (Yang, 1998) Noone working on a [personal computer] is risk free; more viruses are beingspread today than ever before, but more help is being developed as well.Special software is now in stores that will help to prevent any majordisasters that viruses can cause. (Miastkowski, 1998) Antivirus software isa program that protects against viruses. It scans all files on the hard disk,diskettes, CD ROM, and memory to locate viruses. ("Computer," 1997) The life cycle of a virus is rather complicated; it begins when a user runsan infected program. The computer copies the program from the disk into RAM,random access memory, where it can be performed. The viral code begins torun, and the virus copies itself into a part of RAM that is separate from theprogram. This allows the pesky virus to continue to spread while anotherprogram is running, until it is finished and passes back into the infectedprogram. "When the user runs a different program, the dormant virus begins torun again. It inserts a copy...into the...uninfected software so that thecycle...can repeat." (Chess, 1997) There are also other computer pests suchas "worms" that effect networks, but viruses are the most common. (Yang,1998) Years of research have allowed scientists to find ways to detect and destroyviruses. (Chess, 1997) "Building on decades of research by mathematicalepidemiologists, [researchers] have obtained some understanding of the factorsthat govern how quickly viruses spread." (Yegulalp, 1997) Many researchersfeel that they owe much to "pattern-matching techniques developed bycomputational biologists." (Chess, 1997) This has helped them to developantivirus software from the defenses used by the human body to fight offpathogens. According to an independent survey by the National Computer SecurityAssociation, the infection rate for personal computers in North America hasmore than tripled in the last year. (McDonald, 1997) "In the 1990s, the virus problem has become an epidemic. New forms, including the shape-changing polymorphic virus, elusive stealth strains, and the very common macro virusesare making their appearance with alarming frequency." (Yang, 1998) The macro viruses are big problems; they infect very popular programs such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. This type of virus can effect daily work mucheasier than any other virus. (Miastkowski, 1998)"Almost any [antivirus] package does a nice job of finding and eradicatingmost viruses, including macro viruses. The key is to keep the products'library of signatures--binary code that helps identify viruses--current."(Yegulalp, 1997) That is one area where these packages differ most. Some of the major brands of antivirus software include Norton AntiVirus 4.0,PC-cillin 3.0, Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus 7.0, McAfee VirusScan 3.0, and IBMAntiVirus 3.0.1. (Miastkowski, 1998) "All the programs share some commonattributes; for starters...each program indeed hunts down and eradicates thebugs introduced into a system." (Cope, 1998) By far, the best at detectingand destroying viruses is Norton AntiVirus 4.0; it offers superiorprotection. This particular software uses a virus-detection technology called"Bloodhound." It "sniffs out viruses that may have been mutated beyond theiroriginal forms." (Yegulalp, 1997) TouchStone's PC-cillin 3.0 follows closelybehind Norton AntiVirus 4.0; it provides sufficient protection, and updatesare available over the internet. (Miastkowski, 1998) "Each program scans orboot-sector and memory-resident viruses automatically when [the user] turns onthe computer." They also include a Windows 95 antivirus shield that blockscontamination from infected floppy disks and warns the user when a taintedfile is being run. "In addition, they let users perform manual scans of anydrive from within Windows 95, and also check...files downloaded from theInternet." (Cope, 1998) "Norton AntiVirus 4.0 generously incorporates its Windows NT, DOS, Windows3.x and Windows 95 editions into one package. PC-cillin also runs under NT,although TouchStone ships the NT edition as a separate product." (Yegulalp,1997) Another advantage to the Norton AntiVirus software is the installationprocess; it is not difficult, and several options are provided for the user.Norton AntiVirus can load live protection and allow the user to create arescue disk set. The rescue disk set backs up the system, allowing the userto boot and recover from a virus attack. ("Hackers," 1997) The PC-cillinsoftware is very protective also. "Upon installation, PC-cillin immediatelymakes sure its own files are clean, since an infected antivirus program ispowerless to prevent further infection." (Yegulalp, 1997) This program alsooffers a backup system and scan of the system before Windows 95 loads. (Yang,1998) The latest version of PC-cillin informs the user as it is scanning aninternet connection. It "offers much tighter functionality than before.Earlier PC-cillin users will definitely want to upgrade." (Yegulalp, 1997) On the surface, it looks as if the odds are against personal computer users.Despite increased use of antivirus software, viruses continue to spread at anunnerving rate. (McDonald, 1997) Clearly, anti-virus software is one of thesmartest buys a computer owner can make. There are nearly 10,000 knowncomputer viruses threatening the world's personal computers, "with effectsranging from relatively harmless to ferociously destructive." (Cope, 1998)These troublemakers can spread to personal computers easily from an infectedfloppy disk, as well as from files downloaded onto the hard drive from an e-mail attachment and the Internet. (McDonald, 1997) Despite the great reviews of these antivirus programs, many computerresearchers maintain a sense of skepticism towards complete protection. "Regardless of how sophisticated antivirus technology may become, computer viruses will forever remain in an uneasy coexistence with us and our computers." (Chess, 1997) Unless there are updates to virus scanners every few minutes, no one is completely safe from a destructive virus. New virusesare popping up so fast that virus scanner vendors cannot hope to keep up withthem. Even with the best of tools and policies, "bulletproof security isprobably unattainable. High costs, changing networks and software versions,incomplete security tools, and the growing pool of ingenious and dedicatedhackers prohibit this." ("Hackers," 1997) The numbers of people who cancreate new viruses have also increased. (Yang, 1998) "[In June 1997], agroup of hackers quickly cracked a much-vaunted...code using relatively simplebrute force techniques." ("Hackers," 1997) This breach of security wasonly five weeks after the data security invited the attack in the hope ofproving its codes resistant to such attacks. Over several years, people have been perfecting the care of personalcomputers. However, over that same amount of time, others have been hard atwork to develop new ways to cause a system to "crash." Some problems with apersonal computer cannot be stopped, but preventative action can take placefor viruses. Every computer user should be equipped with an antivirusprogram; there is no way of predicting whether or not a simple file contains atremendous virus. The user must leave such a decision to the computer itself;only it can detect and destroy the virus. By purchasing a simple antiviruspackage, each computer user can hamper viruses from entering and destroyinghis personal computer. After taking all of the costs into consideration, itis much more expensive to rebuild a computer after destruction than it is topurchase an effective antivirus software package. Works Cited Chess, David, Jeffrey Kephart, Gregory Sorkin, and Steve White. 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