Are Viruses Getting too Smart
Are Viruses Getting too Smart for PC's to Beat?
Computer viruses are becoming so aggressive and sophisticated that they may soon be able to elude antivirus programs installed on individual computers, according to many in the security industry. The task of protecting information stored on computers, they say, will increasingly be turned over to software installed on servers that have the power and speed to trap and disable malevolent code.PC Users may not realize that just having antivirus software and a firewall isn't enough to protect them anymore. People have to become more aware, and possibly have a good spyware scanner as a new addition to their arsenal.
The computer security industry says the speed with which viruses and worms now propagate requires technologies that predict outbreaks before they happen. Such predictive systems require intensive computing power beyond the capacity of desktop machines.
Viruses will soon be too good for desktop computers to eliminate. Computing security will migrate from desktops to large databases at major exchange points on the Internet. Such databases can employ thousands of times the computing power of the average personal computer.
Overwhelming: Desktop antivirus programs rely on downloading antivirus definitions from security companies, but there is a limit to the number of definitions a single personal computer can maintain before its computing power is overwhelmed.
Databases know what an outbreak looks like, and can identify it much faster and more aggressively. That is likely to mean that the average computer user, instead of relying primarily on commercial antivirus software, personal firewalls, spyware scanners and operating system updates for protection, will instead depend on an Internet service provider or a corporate network to spot and fend off attacks. And there are increasingly loud calls by security experts and consumers for software makers such as Microsoft Corp., whose operating system and e-mail programs are most often targeted, to make their products less susceptible to attack.
These virus writers are analyzing how software engineers work. They are making viruses that are as difficult as possible to analyze, and they are crafting attacks so that antivirus people can't download security code to neutralize it before it is executed.
Sobig.G probably next: The "F" in the latest Sobig worm's name indicates that it is the sixth version of the virus, and its creator is refining it with each iteration.
Sobig.A appeared in January and each intervening version has been slightly different and more effective than the previous one. Since Sobig.F is set to expire Sept. 10, security experts openly expect a Sobig.G to show up soon thereafter.
The author seems to be experimenting. He's introducing the worm on different days of the week, seeding the virus in different locations. He's looking for the ideal conditions for release.
Experts suspect that the Sobig worm attempts to infect machines so they can be used by remote users to send unsolicited e-mail, or spam, without a computer owner's knowledge. The addresses of infected machines would then be sold by the virus' authors.
At any given moment at least 100,000 U.S. home computers are online and infected with viruses or worms that allow malicious programmers to use the unsuspecting machines to launch attacks.
Sobig.F spread to more than a million computers in a matter of days. Two other worms, MSBlaster (also known as LoveSans) and Welchia (also known as Nardi), forced the closing of Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration offices, shut down the check-in system at Air Canada, infiltrated an unclassified Navy-Marine Corps intranet and halted CSX train service for hours.
Security experts warn that worm attacks are becoming multistage, making them more difficult to battle. Viruses such as Sobig.F can change during their attacks by receiving updates and new instructions from other computers. Some experts caution that 'superworms,' engineered to rapidly test for vulnerabilities, inform others of those vulnerabilities and change to exploit the weaknesses, may emerge.
A superworm is definitely possible in the near future.
Why has cyberspace been so plagued with virus infections? It starts with the way the software programs that virtually everyone uses are written.
NASA has virtually defect-free software. Why doesn't Microsoft achieve that same level of software? Because they think they don't have to, and because everyone is rushing to introduce the shiniest bell and loudest whistle... possibly without fully testing it?
Those bells and whistles are things computer users want. But some technology observers say the time may have come for both customers and developers to trade some functionality for better security.
If e-mail software was designed so it was not able to execute something that could send an e-mail to your entire address book without user verification, Sobig wouldn't happen, for example.
The challenge, though, will be retaining the virtues of the Internet while countering threats.
If you lock down the Internet and separate everything, that obviously makes it a lot harder to hack. But the puzzle is how to create better security without decreasing the freedoms that have produced so many innovations.
*Never forget that the best solution to computer problems is prevention! Detecting those that have intent to harm your IT business or personal identity has now become a top priority among web professionals and casual surfers alike.
You will find much more on this topic at WorldsLargestNetwork.com
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