Virus and Antivirus

Team members: - Muzaffar Malik - Kiran Karki

Virus
Computer viruses are small software programs designed to transfer from one computer to another. A virus is simply a computer program that is intentionally written to attach itself to other programs and replicate whenever those programs are executed . Viruses can easily spread by e-mail attachment or instant messaging messages. Virus can be spread by downloading unnecessary files from Internet. Viruses can be disguised as attachments of funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video files.

 Viruses can also replicate themselves. All computer viruses are manmade. A simple virus is dangerous because it will quickly use all available memory and bring the system down. Virus can damage: files, can format hard drives, and can also scramble partition tables, etc.

History
The creeper virus was first detected on ARPANET, in early 1970s Propagated from TENEX operating system.( modem are dialed and connected to remote computers and infect them ) The first pc virus was a boot sector virus called brain, created by Basit and Amjad Farooq Alvi, in 1986, Lahore, Pakistan. This virus copies itself from the software.

Traditional computer viruses

First widely seen in the late 1980s, Technology development encouraged virus creation. Development of personal computers. Due to the internet. Development of floppy disks.

How Virus Works?

When we run infected program it loads into the memory and stars running as well. It also has an ability to infect other programs. When virus runs unidentified programs it adds itself to it. When we transfer some programs and files to our friend either through email, cd, and floppy disk, our friends computer can also be affected as well.

Type
Trojan horses A Trojan horse is a simple computer program. The program damage when we run it. It can even damage hard disk. Trojan horses cant replicate automatically. E-mail viruses An e-mail virus travels as an attachment to emailmessage and usually replicates itself by automatically mailing itself to the entire contact list on our email address book. Some e-mail viruses don't even require a double- click. If we hit once, it directly passes to system.

Type cont..
Worms A worm is a small piece of software that uses computer networks and security holes to replicate itself. A copy of the worm scans the network for another machine that has a specific security hole. It copies itself to the new machine using the security hole, and then starts replicating from there, as well. Cross-site scripting viruses are among the new virus. They use cross-site scripting for propagation. Myspace and Yahoo are most affected sites due to this virus.

Safety measures for Viruses

Run a secure operating system like UNIX.

Buy virus protection software and install in PCs. Avoid program from unknown sources (INTERNET). Use commercial software. For Microsoft application, Macro Virus Protection should be enabled. Never download unknown email attachment. Block receiving and sending executable codes. Solution is Antivirus software

Antivirus-Software
Softwares that attempt to identify and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software (malware). Sophisticated - But virus creators are always one step ahead. Detection - This is the key to antivirus software.

Detection Techniques
Scanning Integrity Checking Interception/ Heuristic Detection Scanning is the most commonly used technique in antivirus software.

Scanning
Also known as Virus Dictionary Approach. Scanner scans the hard disk, memory, boot sector for code snippets. If code snippet in a file matches any virus in the dictionary, appropriate action is taken.

Scanning
Advantages
- Viruses can be found before execution. - False alarms are rare. - Quick at detecting known viruses.

Disadvantages
- Polymorphic Viruses. - Virus executes at least once. - Continuous updates necessary.

Integrity Checker
Keeps track of threats by monitoring changes to files. Maintains information about important files on disk, usually by calculating checksums If a file changes due to virus activity, its checksum will change. E.g. Norman Virus Control.

Integrity Checker
Advantages
- Constants updates are not necessary. - Can be used to detect new viruses. - Can also detect other damages to data e.g. corruption.

Disadvantages
- False Positives. - Cant differentiate between corrupted and infected data.

Heuristic Virus Checking

Generic mechanism for virus detection. Rule based. Rules differentiate a virus from a non virus. If a code snippet follows the defined rules, it is marked as a virus. E.g. F-secure antivirus software.

Heuristic Virus Checking

Advantages
- No need to download updated list of viruses weekly.
- Can be used to detect new viruses.

Disadvantages
- False Positives. - Virus creators can write viruses that do not follow the rules.