[comp.virus] virus definitions

ROBERTS@decwrl.dec.com (George Roberts) (07/06/90)

Jerry J. Anderson writes:
>Here are my definitions of virus, worm and Trojan horse:
>
>    virus        - a dependent self-replicating program.
>
>    worm         - an independent self-replicating program.
>
>    Trojan horse - a program with a hidden agenda.
>
>By dependent, I mean that a virus "lives" within another program.
>
>I do not believe that the definition of a worm has anything to do with
>networks.  I think that association has risen due to the infamy of the
>Internet worm.

I agree with what you are saying, but is there a better way to word
these definitions?  What happened to the word "autonomous" instead of
independent?

autonomous - adjective: Independent; self-contained.  - American
Heritage dictionary.

Here is my attempt at more accurate definitions:

Virus - A section of code which has the ability to attach copies of itself to
        other programs in a manner which when these infected programs are
        executed, the virus code is executed as well as the original program.

Worm - An autonomous program which has the ability to copy itself to a new
       physical location and then execute this new copy as a separate
       concurrent process.

Trojan horse - an autonomous program with a hidden agenda disguised as a
               program to do something desirable.

notes: 'program' may mean a set of integrated programs with a common
       purpose.

       'new physical location' may or may not be on a different cpu.

- -George Roberts
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