Maximum Security, Fourth Edition

Chapter 17. Viruses and Worms

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Understanding Viruses and Worms

• Objects at Risk of Virus Infection

• Who Writes Viruses, and Why?

• Antivirus Utilities

• Future Trends in Viral Malware

• Publications and Sites

	Do you have a virus? No instruments, no senses can tell you if you are in the presence of the predator.
	--Richard Preston, The Hot Zone

	If doctors and pharmacists worked like antivirus vendors, we’d all be immunized against all illnesses. Would this improve our viability as a species?
	--David Harley, Icarus

This chapter addresses one of the best known, most feared, and least understood problems in information security. It explains what viruses and worms really are (and aren’t), summarizes the means of limiting their consequences, and most ...