Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 7, 1995 TAG: 9503070102
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Computer viruses are man-made software programs designed to jump from machine to machine via infected diskettes or downloading from external data bases. Those programs are of varying degrees of playfulness or, increasingly, destructiveness.
Some of the newer viruses, say computer-security experts, are capable of destroying files or rendering computers inoperable, and use a stealth technology that makes them particularly difficult to detect.
The business world is now generally aware of the threat posed by computer viruses, and routinely takes steps to detect and eliminate their presence. Users of home computers, however, are less likely to have ensured that the software on their hard drives and diskettes is virus-free.
Even when a virus is detected before it does irreversible damage, the cost of vigilance is considerable. There's nothing funny about the economic drag imposed on the rest of us by virus-concocting rogue programmers.
That there now are an estimated 6,100 viruses and virus variants - 2,300 of which have appeared in the past 15 months - is thus not a happy fact. The better news is that the growth in the number of computer viruses, after acclerating for several years, now is said to have leveled off.
by CNB