Virus Signatures Research Articles

The molecular structure of the Toll-like receptor 3 ligand-binding domain.

Innate immunity is the first line of defense against invading pathogens. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) act as sentinels of the innate immune system, sensing a variety of ligands from lipopolysaccharide to flagellin to dsRNA through their ligand-binding domain that is composed of leucine-rich repeats (LRRs). Ligand binding initiates a signaling cascade that leads to the up-regulation of inflammation mediators. In this study, we have expressed and crystallized the ectodomain (ECD) of human TLR3, which recognizes dsRNA, a molecular signature of viruses, and have determined the molecular structure to 2.4-A resolution. The overall horseshoe-shaped structure of the TLR3-ECD is formed by 23 repeating LRRs that are capped at each end by specialized non-LRR domains. The extensive beta-sheet on the molecule's concave surface forms a platform for several modifications, including insertions in the LRRs and 11 N-linked glycans. The TLR3-ECD structure indicates how LRR loops can establish distinct pathogen recognition receptors.

Artificial hygiene: Non‐proliferation of viruses in cellular networks

Viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spywares have been effective for quite sometime in the domain of digital computers. These malicious software cause millions of dollars of loss in assets, revenue, opportunity, cleanup cost, and lost productivity. To stop virus attacks, organizations frame up different security policies. These policies work only within the limited domain of the organization’s network. However, the emergence of wireless technologies, and the seamless mobility features of the wireless devices from one network to the other have created a challenge to uphold the security policies of a particular network. Hence, in this digital society, while mobile devices roam in foreign networks, they get infected through viruses in the foreign network. Anti‐virus software is not so effective for novel viruses. There have been no reports of mobile‐phone viruses in the wild as yet. However, with the emergence of execution environments on mobile phones, it will be possible to write viruses and worms for mobile devices in cellular networks. We should be prepared to fight against viruses in the cellular networks. All the technologies available to fight against viruses are specific to virus signatures. We propose that this fight needs to be multilayered. In this paper the authors have proposed a novel philosophy in cellular network called Artificial Hygiene (AH), which is virus neutral and will work at the class level. With this process a device and the network will take the necessary steps to keep the digital environment safe.

Resilient Self-Organizing Overlay Networks for Security Update Delivery

Rapid and widespread dissemination of security updates throughout the Internet will be invaluable for many purposes, including sending early-warning signals, updating certificate revocation lists, distributing new virus signatures, etc. Notifying a large number of machines securely, quickly, and reliably is challenging. Such a system must outpace the propagation of threats, handle complexities in a large-scale environment, deal with interruption attacks on dissemination, and also secure itself. Revere addresses these problems by building a large-scale, self-organizing, and resilient overlay network on top of the Internet. We discuss how to secure the dissemination procedure and the overlay network, considering possible attacks and countermeasures. We present experimental measurements of a prototype implementation of Revere gathered using a large-scale-oriented approach. These measurements suggest that Revere can deliver security updates at the required scale, speed and resiliency for a reasonable cost.

Contemporary Trends in the Development of Information Security and Computer Virology

The information and its security were subject of special attention throughout the ages. All achievements in this area were highly appreciated and were finding immediate application. During the past years, the development of the contemporary society is correlated with the continuously growing information activity. The information accumulation and its movement through the Internet environment are the next challenge to not only to information security, but also to broader aspects of societal security. In these conditions the notion of information security becomes a basic instrument for evaluating the risks for an information unit. One of the main effects on the information security of a given information object stem from computer viruses and their derivatives. The science of Computer Virology emerges as a response to these challenges. It deals with analysis and synthesis of virus signatures used by the anti virus programs for detection, blocking and removal of the computer viruses. In the contemporary information society the computer virology turns into one of the most important agents for mastering of the ―malicious thinking‖ and for guaranteeing the necessary information security.