Why Virus Writers are Useful

man_of_mr_e writes "Security site Zone-h.org has an interview with Professor Samuel D. Forrester, one of the worlds leading immunologists. In this interview he asserts that immunity is built by infection, and without it you would have a much weaker ecosystem. "

Comments

Uh, yes

[2nd Post!]

You want some analogies?
Computers have varying levels of protection: We, administrators, play the role of t-cells, white blood cells, and macrophages.

So a computer 'ecosystem' is like a lan or a network; or even the internet. So the immune response? Train the users not to click attachments. Install firewalls. Install filters. Install anti-virus programs. Install patches.

Don't forget that systems aren't static! Windows Update, patches, new holes, etc, are 'discovered' and 'sealed' in organic, not deterministic, fashion. Likewise as new systems are brought into the network, they will/should have greater protection, according to patches, newer users with 'learned' behavior from prior attacks, and newer software.

You can't treat a computer network separate from the users, else you can't take into account trojans!

Re:He's kind-of wrong anyway

[Psyx]

"Immunity is exposed by infection. It isn't created out of thin air as needed."

Immunity to computer viruses/worms and the ilk is indeed created/coded as soon as the susceptibility is detected. Sometimes that happens before an infection, sometimes it happens afterwards.

So yes, infection can expose immunity, but it can also lead to the purposeful creation of immunity (immunization). For example: if smallpox didn't previously exist, would a vaccine have been developed against it? I doubt it. Then again, in that case, one could argue that the intelligence of the smallpox susceptible population had the effect of making them immune.

Finally, since I can't read the Slashdotted site, I can only go from the tagline. It mentions building immunity, not creating it. Removing the susceptible parts of the population does build immunity in the population as a percentage.

Viruses IS correct!- Dorlands Medical Dictionary

[spineboy]

There is no listing for virii, but Dorlands Medical dictionary (probably one of the most widely used ones), lists viruses as the plural of virus. There is no medical word virii. I have never heard any of my medical co-workers use virii - we all use viruses.

Re:He's kind-of wrong anyway

[ravenousbugblatter]

"immunity is exposed by infection. It isn't created out of thin air as needed."

Wrong. That's exactly the way our immune systems work in some ways. The body has innate immunity against certain germs i.e. the immunity exists before the germ even infects.

Unfortunately I don't think we yet have anti-virus software like this yet, specifically, software that could predict what a virus might look like (work like) and then make a patch for it before it even exits. I bet software like this is created in less than a decade though. probably less than a few years...

Re:That's very true

[tgibbs]

When I was a baby and a kid, my parents let me walk on the floor naked, put things in my mouth and all things that most parents shriek at.

One proposed explanation for the rising incidence of asthma is that parents don't let their kids do this so much anymore (or they clean their floors with disinfectants). The notion is that your immune system is evolved to deal with a certain level of attack. If it doesn't find enough invaders, it "figures" that it just isn't trying hard enough, and cranks up the volume until it starts going crazy over every mite and speck of pollen.