transcription, транскрипция: [ ˈvaɪərəs ]
noun (Science and Technology) A computer program or section of programming code which is designed to sabotage a computer system by causing itself to be copied into other parts of the system, often destroying data in the process. Etymology: A figurative use of virus based on the ability of the computer virus to replicate itself within the computer system, just as a biological virus multiplies within an organism. History and Usage: Like the worm, the computer virus was originally a concept of science fiction: it was used in David Gerrold's book When Harlie was One (1972), and also in John Brunner's The Shockwave Rider in 1975 (see the inset quotation under worm). The first real virus was the subject of a computer science experiment in November 1983, presented by American computer scientist F. Cohen to a seminar on computer security. When Cohen had introduced the concept to the seminar, the name virus was apparently suggested by Len Adleman, and the results of the experiment were demonstrated a week later: The initial infection was implanted in 'vd', a program that displays Unix structures graphically, and introduced to users via the system bulletin board...The virus was implanted at the beginning of the program so that it was performed before any other processing...In each of five attacks, all system rights were granted to the attacker in under an hour. By the second half of the eighties the virus had become a serious hazard to individual and corporate computer users; because the code copies itself into the computer's memory and then causes havoc, it became advisable to avoid using floppy discs which might conceivably contain a virus--freeware and discs supplied by clubs, for example. Considerable financial loss was suffered as a result of the epidemic, not to mention research time and valuable data: in one famous incident, London's Royal National Institute for the Blind temporarily lost six months' worth of research after being attacked by a virus contained in files on a floppy disc. A number of software companies began to offer virus detection programs and 'good' viruses which could guard against infection (this kind of virus was sometimes known as a vigilante virus). It's easy to build malicious viruses which duplicate themselves and then erase data files. Just as easy to create a virus that lies dormant for months and then erupts some day in the future. Clifford Stoll The Cuckoo's Egg (1989), p. 29 The debate over vigilante viruses is part of a broader discussion now taking place among some computer researchers and programmers over what is being termed 'forbidden knowledge'. New York Times 7 Oct. 1989, p. 35 Comprehensive virus detection and removal features to protect your software investment. Works with all presently known viruses. CU Amiga Apr. 1990, p. 70 See also logic bomb and Trojan