LESSON PLAN COMPARING THE BEHAVIOR OF BIOLOGICAL VIRUSES AND …

Short Description
“computer virus.” Cohen went on to create a virus program that … A computer virus is a program designed to spread itself by first infecting a “host …

Website: www.pbs.org | Filesize: 65kb

Content
1
LESSON PLAN: COMPARING THE BEHAVIOR OF BIOLOGICAL
VIRUSES AND COMPUTER VIRUSES
INTRODUCTION
In 1984, while a doctoral student at the University of Southern California, Fred
Cohen described his concept of “a program able to infect other programs by
modifying them to include a possibly evolved version of itself.” Cohen’s thesis
adviser noted the similarity to a biological virus, and this was the birth of the term
“computer virus.”
Cohen went on to create a virus program that compromised the security system on a
closed university computer network. This virus was unleashed as an experiment in a
controlled environment, similar to the way biologists study live human viruses in a
lab setting.
The introduction of the personal computer in the ’80s, and the expansion of the
Internet and World Wide Web in the ’90s have created a society that is highly
dependent on computer networks. Because of this dependence on computer
technology in every day life, computer viruses have had, and will likely continue to
have, the potential to wreak havoc.
Computer Viruses
A computer virus is a program designed to spread itself by first infecting a “host
file” on a user’s computer. The virus…