Who can forget the way the world was frozen with the threat of the “Millennium Bug”? While people around the globe should have been counting down to a phenomenal celebration, we were too busy preparing for certain doom and gloom beset by a computer virus. Of course, the clock struck twelve on January 1, 2000 and a new millennium quietly began, bug-free.
Those unfortunate enough to have had to deal with a computer virus knows all too well the damage that can be done. From taking on annoying quirks, to erasing files, to completely obliterating computers or entire systems, the powerful effect of a computer virus is nothing to sneeze at. Computer viruses pose real threats that can be minimal, or can cause worldwide destruction.
In computer security technology circles, the definition of a computer virus is a “self-replicating program that spreads by inserting copies of itself into other executable code or documents”. A computer virus behaves in a manner similar to a biological virus, which spreads by inserting itself into living cells.
Extending the analogy, the insertion of a computer virus into a program is termed as an...