Topic 6

Issues related to viruses on both stand-alone and network systems by HeeJun Son

In these days, every computer is very vulnerable to computer virus. Internet is everywhere. As the world is connected by the network system and computers do all the things for people, the economical damage caused by the computer virus is immense. Not only computers control the business system, but they also do control the transport and traffic systems. If the computers are harmed by the viruses, the consequences will be enormous as many news articles tell us a lot of people get disadvantage from the viruses.

1. What are the issues associated with this subject?

As they became existing everywhere, viruses have become the major problems in these days. They replicate themselves in the computer and alter operation system without any owner’s consent. People even get their information stolen and viruses utterly destroy a computer. There are many kinds of viruses: boot sector viruses, companion viruses, email viruses, macro viruses, cross-site scripting virus, etc. They are programmed to damage the computer by altering programs, deleting files, or reformatting the hard disk. The viruses have bugs leading to data loss or more serious problems. Malwares are slightly different from viruses although most people assume they are the same things. Malwares are made to destroy a computer system. Trojan horses and worms are the common examples of malwares.

5. What solutions can overcome the problem?

The easiest way to solve the virus problem is not to allow the virus to spread out of control at the first place. Unfortunately, in the Internet, it is harder to prevent viruses from sneaking in. The anti-virus program may be one of the good choices to get rid of viruses from the computers. However, it also removes a good virus. The problems of this kind are traditionally more difficult to solve than the technical ones. However the anti-virus softwares may help greatly to solve those problems associated with destroying the computer system. And we should not install any suspicious program on our computer.

8. What are the ethical issues?

It is unethical to change other people’s data without their permit. Computer viruses change the information on the computer. Therefore they are illegal and unethical. Some viruses having malicious intent can steal personal important information and erase the whole data in the hardware. Sometimes the stolen information can be posted on the web. If that is a case, anyone is possible to see his or her personal important information. Anybody who sees that on the web can abuse it. Thus the virus problems have caused ethical issues.

9. Who is responsible?

Many people believe that only a few people who have great knowledge of computer programming can create computer viruses, perhaps like an intelligent computer programmer. But creating virus is not as hard as most people may think if you properly understand how the program works. People make viruses because mainly they want to feel the thrill or to show off their special talents. If a person knows how to make programs, he or she will easily make destructive viruses that spread very quickly. People create the viruses because they also want something beneficial from someone. As we can see the people who are good at programming and have a bad purpose are responsible the problems of viruses

15 Comments -Show Original Post Collapse comments

kenth said...

Good.
Information about virus is clearly displayed. It is also easy to read and understand since it is divided by questions.

November 21, 2006 7:42 PM

Joseph Toyoshima said...

I agree with our opinion about how the virsuses affect computers everywhere, as the internet is a prevaling use. The economical damage would be especially immense. Good job!

November 21, 2006 7:47 PM

taROLL said...

Overall the essay is easy to understand. The topic is certainly interesting because its a fairly big issue.
The introduction can be improved a little by making it more complex.
Also you might want more specific
examples
Nice job as a whole.

November 21, 2006 7:54 PM

Tommy Chuang said...

I think it may have helped if you had cited specific examples of virus outbreaks, such as the I Love You virus.

November 27, 2006 7:16 PM

akirajackson said...

As people use internet more frequently the more virus spreads. security of computer is really important.

November 28, 2006 6:40 AM

Dhruv Rajashekaran said...

i didnt know that viruses were easy to make. I was under the wrong impression that only 'super-smart' people could do it. its not exactly related but a question that might go with it....why does mac seem 'pretected' against viruses...or have no viruses been made for it?

November 28, 2006 7:32 PM

kaerujin said...

Nicely explained, good explaination on the different viruses and other forms of it since two or three which I never knew before. I still don't understand why there are no other 100% virus preventive programs but overall good job for making us understand it generally.

November 29, 2006 7:26 PM

chirag said...

yea, you could have put this point under the issues, tht as the softwares developed to prevent viruses get better, at the same time there are newer and deadlier viruses which makes it difficult for the anti-virus companies to keep up with the growin threats...

November 30, 2006 2:50 AM

ronniewonnie said...

Well thought out essay, HeeJun.
Each social and ethical issue was layed out clearly.
Viruses are an interesting subject to write on and you had most of the main points written.
Ronald Chu

December 11, 2006 7:12 AM

Chun said...

We had the same topic and you did a great job! You had more detailed explanation and specific examples of virus than my essay. I just have some question: What kind of good viruses there are and what are their effects? And are they called good virus or is it called in other words?

December 14, 2006 4:32 AM

Simon Ruiz said...

"It is unethical to change other people’s data without their permit." this statemnet could have been expanded to the ultimate question of why? In other words, why is it unethical to change other people's data without their permit? what if the data were wrong? nevertheless, it is very subjective and should be discussed further.

December 14, 2006 6:01 AM

aditya kumar said...

Fairly insightful essay. I thought personally that you could have elaborated on the different kinds of viruses or categorized them according to how harmful they are. ALso, you could have exposed the fact that not all anti-virus software is equipped to deal with all viruses.
-- Aditya Kumar

December 15, 2006 4:42 AM

moyer said...

Virus sure does give a bad affect on the society. Thanks to you now I have a better understanding of viruses. But I heard that viruses will get more and more useless because the internet is just improving and improving. But then I m sure someone is going to invent a new kind of virus.

December 17, 2006 3:27 AM

matwilder said...

For a person that doesnt understand computer mumbo jumbo like me, you should have defined and explained what stand alone and network systems are. You also might want to include specific examples of how a virus could disrupt networks and computers on a global scale. I find your ethical understanding of viruses to the point, and agree with it.

December 18, 2006 3:33 AM

Vaibhav said...

Viruses have always been a pain to people. The only advantage of this is that there is a new market for anti-virus softwares.

December 19, 2006 4:53 AM