At 9:30 -0500 12/9/05, sgorman1@gmu.edu wrote:
Thought folks might find this interesting
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8403
Viral Cure Could 'Immunise' The Internet, New Scientist
Excerpts: A cure for computer viruses that spreads in a viral fashion could immunise the internet, even against pests that travel at lightning speed, a mathematical study reveals.
Most conventional anti-virus programs use "signatures" to identify and block viruses. But experts must first analyse a virus before sending out the fix. This means that rapidly spreading viruses can cause widespread damage before being stopped.
Source: Viral Cure Could 'Immunise' The Internet, Kurt Kleiner, NewScientist, 05/12/01
This has been thought of many times. My spin around this was attached to DARPA's Active Network (http://www.darpa.mil/ato/programs/AN/). The eternal question in security is "what are you defending against?" Because of that, security will always have a strong reactionary element. I can't cite any, but I recall hearing some claims that viruses in the past were meant to fix problems or highlight in a benign way the presence of problems. It's been tried in real life, I don't see that a mathematical study is going to come up with a result that is more meaningful. -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Edward Lewis +1-571-434-5468 NeuStar 3 months to the next trip. I guess it's finally time to settle down and find a grocery store.