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John Luke
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
February 14th, 2016
Internet Immune System
Introduction/Overview
I will be examining the nature of computer viruses, what a variety of types and kinds are,
the symptoms and effects they can produce, and a simple set of instructions that will allow the
average user of a computer to keep themselves safe from them. According to Microsofts
website: Computer viruses are small software programs that are designed to spread from one
computer to another and to interfere with computer operation. Microsofts Safety and Security
Center website describes how this action can come in many varying degrees of severity. It states
how computer viruses can have as little an effect as trying to bog down the speed of the
operating system, to deleting or corrupting data files, as well as spreading itself to others
computers through the users email. In the most destructive of situations, computer viruses can
even be capable of formatting the infected computers hard drive and wiping out all the data that
it contained. The website pctechguide.com corroborates all of this information and gives a
further detailed explanation on the function of these viruses. This website describes how if a
virus were to delete system files pertaining to the computers function, then the system integrity
would be corrupted. Even if the virus were not designed to inflict this type of damage, or if it
were unable to for whatever reason, then the virus could still be capable of running itself and
thus taking up system memory, lowering the speed and functionality of the computer
nonetheless. The big issue involved with computer viruses is that there is a minimalistic

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understanding of how viruses work, how they end up finding their way onto a users computer,
and how to tell if a computer has a virus. The purpose of this paper will be to provide the average
reader with a usable knowledge base in understanding computer viruses, and to know what
actions to take if a virus becomes an issue for them.
According to csrc.nist.gov Fred Cohen coined the term Computer Virus in 1983, as
he performed intellectual research on them. The Website howstuffworks.com also states that
computer viruses were first widely seen in the 1980s, and came about, not so surprisingly, along
with the advent of the Personal Computer. Viruses easily jumped from computer to computer
through Floppy Disk Drives, as well as were tied away into computer bulletin boards. These
bulletin boards allowed computer users to call up to them with a modem and download popular
software, such as games and word processors. These formats were easy targets for early viruses,
and thus propagated their spreading.
Overall the line in the sand with the subject of computer viruses is fairly cut and dry.
Many consider them simply a nuisance, and to the average user of a computer they are simply no
good whatsoever. In the higher echelons of concern with these creations though, their
applications and reasons for existence get a little hazy to look into. In recent years they have
begun to be used in applications of Cyber Warfare, such as is described in businessinsider.com
about the Stuxnet worm. This virus was created with the alleged intention to disrupt Irans
Natanz nuclear plant in order to stop any production of refined Uranium to be used in the
creation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. According to the same website, the problems this
virus created were less of the direct function of the virus, which succeeded in its programming,
but rather raised questioning into the processes of how facilities worldwide run. The virus was
installed into the facilitys computer system by way of a complacent contractors thumb drive,

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thus this shows the level of simplicity and ease that we could become victims of the same type
attack, by the exact same means as it was delivered to Iran. As a result it becomes evident that on
a global scale, cyber security in these types of facilities is extremely weak and vulnerable.

Initial Inquiry Question(s)

What are simple and easy ways to keep a computer safe from viruses? What are the
telltale signs of a virus? What are the simplest and soundest ways of removing computer viruses
if they attack a users computer?

My Interest in this Topic

Im interested in how computer viruses function, and how to get rid of them because as a
child I had a situation where I was using the internet on a website that seemed to have been
deemed safe by my predetermined ideas of what safe internet searching was, and yet our
computer still came under attack from a virus. I was helpless as my father angrily grueled over
the dastardly machine, and spent hours attempting to remove the contagion. Eventually he found
enough information on its function that he was able to locate and delete it from the system. This
event triggered a now life-long skittish interactivity with computers, and a general fear of the
Internet. By gaining a better knowledge base, and by providing this to others as well, I hope to
gain a personal confidence that were anything to go wrong in this manner again, that I and others
would be prepared to deal with it.
I already know much about how a computer can become infected with a virus. They
spread by way of downloads from infected websites, for example when you click on a link and
the link downloads files to your computer. They can also spread through emails, such as when

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you receive an infected message from a contact and then open this email or its attachments.
Some viruses are designed explicitly to search for email contacts and use the users email to send
out copies of it to these contacts. What I hope to learn is a reliable way of dealing with these
viruses once they have infected a users computer, and being able to share this information with
the readers of my paper.

Next Steps
What are practical ways of ridding your computer of viruses, and what are the most
reliable ways of doing this?
I will be visiting the websites of many prominent antivirus software companies, such as
MacAfee, Norton Security, and Malware Bytes in order to gain an understanding of what the
most cutting edge software is on the market and how they work to protect a users computer.
Also I will be looking at historical documents, newspapers, and articles such as that on
Wikipedia in order to find notable viruses and the effects they held, and also possibly look into
the connection of viruses to cyber warfare and their use in situations similar to how the Stuxnet
virus was used on Irans Natanz nuclear plant. If enough information is found on the use of
viruses in this manner, I may shift my topic into solely focusing on viruses use in cyber warfare.