Malware comes of age: The arrival of the true computer parasite

Abstract

In the last few years we have seen the evolution of computer viruses from a laboratory phenomenon, of interest to a small number of technical experts into a truly effective parasite capable of spreading rapidly and efficiently and causing great emotional and financial distress to their victims. Malware can resist efforts to destroy it and to conceal itself in an infected system. And now it can make resources available to its creator that give it a truly significant reason for existence. If we thought malware writers were persistent or creative in the past, imagine what they will do, now that there is money in it. It is now 20 years since Fred Cohen published his seminal research paper1 suggesting the potential threat of computer viruses. In the years since, the risk that Cohen identified has been proved unquestionably.