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31 lines
4.0 KiB
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>virus</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../V.html" title="V"/><link rel="previous" href="virtual-shredder.html" title="virtual shredder"/><link rel="next" href="visionary.html" title="visionary"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">virus</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="virtual-shredder.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">V</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="visionary.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="virus"/><dt xmlns="" id="virus"><b>virus</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> [from the obvious analogy with biological viruses, via SF] A cracker
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program that searches out other programs and ‘infects’ them by
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embedding a copy of itself in them, so that they become <a href="../T/Trojan-horse.html"><i class="glossterm">Trojan
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horse</i></a>s. When these programs are executed, the embedded virus
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is executed too, thus propagating the ‘infection’. This
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normally happens invisibly to the user. Unlike a
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<a href="../W/worm.html"><i class="glossterm">worm</i></a>, a virus cannot infect other computers without
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assistance. It is propagated by vectors such as humans trading programs
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with their friends (see <a href="../S/SEX.html"><i class="glossterm">SEX</i></a>). The virus may do
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nothing but propagate itself and then allow the program to run normally.
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Usually, however, after propagating silently for a while, it starts doing
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things like writing cute messages on the terminal or playing strange tricks
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with the display (some viruses include nice <a href="../D/display-hack.html"><i class="glossterm">display
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hack</i></a>s). Many nasty viruses, written by particularly perversely
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minded <a href="../C/cracker.html"><i class="glossterm">cracker</i></a>s, do irreversible damage, like nuking
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all the user's files.</p><p>In the 1990s, viruses became a serious problem, especially among
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Windows users; the lack of security on these machines enables viruses to
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spread easily, even infecting the operating system (Unix machines, by
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contrast, are immune to such attacks). The production of special
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anti-virus software has become an industry, and a number of exaggerated
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media reports have caused outbreaks of near hysteria among users; many
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<a href="../L/luser.html"><i class="glossterm">luser</i></a>s tend to blame <span class="emphasis"><em>everything</em></span>
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that doesn't work as they had expected on virus attacks. Accordingly, this
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sense of <span class="firstterm">virus</span> has passed not only
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into techspeak but into also popular usage (where it is often incorrectly
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used to denote a <a href="../W/worm.html"><i class="glossterm">worm</i></a> or even a <a href="../T/Trojan-horse.html"><i class="glossterm">Trojan
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horse</i></a>). See <a href="../P/phage.html"><i class="glossterm">phage</i></a>; compare
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<a href="../B/back-door.html"><i class="glossterm">back door</i></a>; see also <a href="../U/Unix-conspiracy.html"><i class="glossterm">Unix
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conspiracy</i></a>.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="virtual-shredder.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../V.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="visionary.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">virtual shredder </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> visionary</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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