Communications of the ACM
The cuckoo's egg: tracking a spy through the maze of computer espionage
The cuckoo's egg: tracking a spy through the maze of computer espionage
Computers under attack: intruders, worms, and viruses
Computers under attack: intruders, worms, and viruses
Cyberpunk: outlaws and hackers on the computer frontier
Cyberpunk: outlaws and hackers on the computer frontier
A short course on computer viruses (2nd ed.)
A short course on computer viruses (2nd ed.)
The “worm” programs—early experience with a distributed computation
Communications of the ACM
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A virus is a piece of program code that attaches copies of itself to other programs, incorporating itself into them so that the modified programs, while possibly still performing their intended functions, surreptitiously do other things. Programs so corrupted seek others to which to attach the virus, and so the "infection" spreads. Successful viruses lie low until they have thoroughly infiltrated the system, and only reveal their presence when they cause damage. The effect of a virus is rarely traceable back to its originator, so viruses make attractive weapons for vandals.