Malware comes of age: The arrival of the true computer parasite

摘要

It is now 20 years since Fred Cohen published his seminal research paper suggesting the potential threat of computer viruses. In the years since, the risk that Cohen identified has been proved unquestionably. Alongside hackers, the threat of the computer virus is the security issue that has permeated the public mind most deeply. This reputation is certainly not without foundation — viruses consistently take the top spot in surveys of reported security breaches. Two recent samples are the 2004 Computer Crime and Security Survey (from the US Computer Security Institute) and the 2004 Information Security Breaches Survey (from the UK Department of Trade & Industry). Both asked respondents to indicate the type of security incidents that they had encountered in the previous year. Viruses were the top-rated problem in both studies, accounting for 78% and 50% of replies respectively. Both were about 20% ahead of the other threats rated in both surveys. This clearly suggests that malware is one of the most troublesome and common cyber threats.