Anti-Virus White Papers
Why Computer Viruses are Not - and Never Were - a Problem
Overview Computer viruses are not a problem. At least, that is what one would believe if he or she listened to various security experts, lawyers, and anti-virus product developers. For instance, at a well-known conference held in the United States last year, one of the legal tracks was promoted as featuring information about viruses. Attendees at the session were informed that viruses were mainly a matter of a few guys in Bulgaria trying to outdo one another -- not a real problem. The conference was supposed to deal with viruses in one of its "Legal Tracks". Nothing was mentioned about legal consequences of intentionally infecting someone's computer, or the problems of developing laws which really work in these complex situations. Not a word was mentioned about possible legal redress for people who may have been harmed in some way by a virus, or the problems of legally obtaining some form of satisfaction from virus writers who are in many cases not of legal age. No mention of the legislation being undertaken internationally (and in some cases perhaps hastily with little thought to the ramifications of such legislation!) to deal with the virus problem; no discussion of the problems of such legislation; no mention of even the few existing virus specific laws. There was no mention of the source code versus binary debate which usually comes into play during any serious discussion of laws which could affect the virus 'situation'. At the conference, which was designed to deal with ethical and technical issues, there was no mention of the fact that not all rights are positive rights; there was no word about moral rights, or ethical action and the place of legislation in this cyber-society. Viruses were glossed over as a minor annoyance. How accurate was this portrayal of the virus situation?
| Publisher | Command Software Systems | File Format | HTML |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date Published | August 2003 | Downloads | 1 |
| Format | White Papers | ||
| Topics | |||
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