Term Paper on "Computer Viruses: A Quantitative Analysis of User"

Term Paper 10 pages (2542 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Computer Viruses: A Quantitative Analysis of User Profiles and Risk Factors for Contracting Computer Viruses

The purpose of this study is a quantitative descriptive analysis of computer viruses. Specifically the researcher plans to identify what key factors identify users at risk for contracting computer viruses and what methods or techniques are best suited for combating increasingly insidious computer viruses in the future. The researcher proposes a pilot study that will facilitate further studies in this field much larger and much more comprehensives that will potentially have global implications for preventing computer virus damage to private and corporate users in the future.

In today's society, research suggests that computer viruses are perhaps one of the most prevalent security threats facing individuals, corporations and network computer users. Computer viruses have many abilities, including the ability to completely corrupt or delete data and crash computer systems (Hunton, 1998). The implications of such damage are wide ranging. Computer viruses can corrupt, destroy and eliminate data and damage computer systems. They can debilitate an organization and result in economic and financial loss that is in many cases unrecoverable (Hunton, 1998). For this reason it is vital that computer viruses are better understood, addressed and hopefully prevented.

As technology continues to improve the speed with which people communicate and perform complex business transactions on the Web, so too does the speed with which hackers and other undesirables fashion and create damaging viruses. New viruses are providing particularly complex and insidious, overcoming even modern anti-virus protection programs and finding new backdoors into existing networks.

Because of the potential security threat a virus presents it is important that individuals and organizations take precautions to protect their systems from attack. The purpose of this paper will be an investigational analysis of computers viruses. Specifically the researcher plans to identify the key factors that put a user at risk for virus infection, and identify what measures and methods are most likely to prevent viral infection.

Statement of the Problem

Research suggests that as many as 90% of large corporations and government agencies have experienced at least one computer security attack in recent years (Van Horn, 2003: 169). Other studies including those conducted by Consumer Reports show that roughly 58% of people responding to a survey reported attack by a virus within the last two years with 10% reporting serious damage (Van Horn, 2003). Studies suggest that multiple security issues exist.

For years, consumers and business enterprises alike have dreaded computer virus threats. Most computer viruses are programming code that can induce damage from minor to severe on a computers hard disk or applications (Hunton, 1998). Though many viruses are mild in nature, all should be considered malicious threats to the computer.

Background

The first viruses were created by experienced programmers who had no desire other than to improve their "computer skills to their cohorts" and most of these programs were benign in nature, often humorous and created for laughs (Hunton, 1998:39). Today complex viruses are often created with the intent to destroy entire systems or processes, and may even be implicated in terrorist activities (Hunton, 1998).

Computers can be infected in multiple ways, as in when a user boots or starts their computer using an infected program or when a user executes an infected program that has been transmitted to program files (more commonly the case) (Hunton, 1998). Despite their threat computer viruses typically must wait for an end user to execute then and cannot attack on their own (Hunton, 1998). Today there are thousands of new viruses created every day. One relatively new strain of virus referred to as a macro virus is particularly insidious, hiding in documents and only activating after a triggering event occurs (Hunton, 1998). These viruses are often buried in documents and can instruct the computer to engage in multiple complex actions including deleting or renaming files.

While the number of virus protection utilities that currently exists remains quite high, thousands of users are still affected by computer viruses every day.

Research Questions (include several)

How can users protect their computers from attack and damage?

How can personal information including identity be protected?

Is password complexity and changing enough to ensure security?

Which anti-virus software is best utilized to prevent virus threats.

What mistakes are users making that encourage serious attacks?

Why some users fail to implement security measures despite a known risk of virus attacks.

Hypothesis

The purpose of the study is to examine what users are most at risk for computer virus attack and what methods can best be used to prevent virus attacks. The author intends to use quantitative risk assessment of computer virus subjectivity. The author hypothesizes that user error is most likely to result in computer viral attacks and that education and prevention are the most likely source of protection from computer virus attacks.

Significance of the Study

At some point or another all computer users are at risk for virus attacks. Studies confirm that in business environments up to 90% of users will experience a virus attack at one point or another, and that 58% of the population at large will deal with a serious virus attack at least once during the course of a given year (Van Horn, 2003). Computer viruses can lead to extreme data loss and computer malfunction. In certain environments this data loss can be debilitating.

As more and more organizations rely on computer data including health care organizations taking advantage of telemedicine it is vital that users understand what risk factors heighten their susceptibility to virus attacks. Computer virus protection may also enable better personal protections to the public at large, decreasing the risk for identity theft or other crimes committed by computer hackers. This study will help determine what users are most at risk for attack and help determine what methods and techniques are best used to mitigate the effects of or prevent an attack from occurring.

Review of the Related Literature and Research

Hickman (1995) notes that modern technology while improving the ease at which many people operate continues to provide increasingly fertile ground for "sowing new strains of viruses" (p. 49). Among the problems currently being researched include new gateways allowing access into networks, shareware software and other forms of access that allow new methods for distributing "diabolical strains of viruses" that can attack both complex and simple systems (Hickman, 1994: 49).

Research suggests that even "state-of-the-art" software in many cases is not able to identify and detect "stealth" viruses, which sometimes attack anti-virus software itself (Hickman, 1994: 49). Still other newer forms of viruses referred to as "mutation engine" evolve into mutated forms like a cancer, multiplying at dizzying rates and proving especially difficult to eradicate (Hickman, 1994: 49).

Many suggest the best method for combating viruses is prevention (Hickman, 1994; Hunton, 1998; Rajala, 2004). Researchers are continually developing new methods of prevention to protect users from virus programs. Prevention methods identified include use of anti-virus software, scanning, download surveillance and detailed policies regarding user privileges (Rajala, 2004).

Van Horn (2003) suggests that multiple user profiles can contribute to vulnerability. There are multiple user profiles including those who lost data and those that will lose data (Van Horn, 2003). There is complex virus capable of destroying information on disk drives and milder versions that might result in temporary data loss that can be recovered (Van Horn, 2003).

Williams (2001) notes that despite increasing knowledge of the threats that computer viruses pose, many organizations and agencies aren't taking adequate preventive measures to prevent computer virus attacks. There are several steps already outlined to help reduce the risk of exposure for organizations in particular according to the researcher, yet not all organizations are taking advantage of these protective measures. The researcher points out a case in 20001 when a malicious code infected hundreds of computers. This particularly code, a worm, infected more than 300,000 computer systems all over the world in less than nine hours (Williams, 2001).

Interestingly as Williams points out in this case, the worm could have easily been prevented. In this case education and training could have enabled users to decrease their vulnerability, yet many organizations did not head the advice. The consequence? More than 2.6 billion dollars of damage was incurred in the first couple of attacks alone. The author further asserts that in this case patching (specifically security patching) would have protected many end users.

Just as it is important to understand what causes computer viruses it is also important to understand why users may not follow guidelines established to help prevent attacks. The researcher in this study will hopefully help uncover some of the reasons end users are unwilling or fail to implement adequate security measures to protect their systems.

Summary Research

The research clearly supports the trend that computer viruses are on the rise. Much of the information presented in the preliminary literature review supports the notion that prevention is a substantial key toward virus protection for end users. What researchers have not fully examined… READ MORE

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