Viruses: 20 years old and still growing30 January 2006
We have become so accustomed in this high-tech age to threats to the security of our computer software, company data and personal details that it is sometimes hard to remember a time when nasties like viruses, worms and spyware didn't exist.
In fact, that time was not so long ago at all. As technology and the internet continue to move forward in relatively short spaces of time, so the security headaches which accompany continue to grow.
This month is the 20th anniversary of the appearance of the first computer virus to spread itself from PC to PC, triggering a spate of similar plagues. Called the Brain, it was transferred from computer to computer via floppy disk.
Two decades on, there are now over 150,000 malicious computer viruses in existence and that number is continually increasing. The difference in 2006 compared to 1986, however, is their purpose. The forefathers of the modern virus were more often the result of technology enthusiasts experimenting with what could be done, and how much disruption caused.
Mikko Hypponen of anti-virus firm F-Secure, told the BBC: "The most significant change has been the evolution of virus writing hobbyists into criminally operated gangs bent on financial gain." As long as there is a financial incentive to writing viruses, there will be people doing it. And anyone who has ever fallen victim to this kind of attack knows it's well worth investing in some protection.
Protection
As viruses multiply, thankfully so do products designed to protect businesses from them. The rise of always-on broadband and the indispensability of email as the main form of business communication means that viruses now travel very differently. Opening a seemingly innocent attachment to an email can suddenly subject you and all of your colleague's to a disruptive virus and put your company at risk of intellectual and financial property loss. This can be prevented in a number of ways:
- Ensuring you have an up-to-date firewall will help to reduce significantly the risk of virus infection to your computers. For more information see our previous feature on the first line of defence.
- In addition to this, most companies now invest in anti-virus software. This is more sophisticated and can identify suspicious files, messages and their attachments and bring them to the attention of the user or delete them. The most well-known and generally useful for small businesses are BT's Internet Security Pack and Norton Internet Security 2006.
- Ensure that staff are aware of the threat of viruses and they know how to spot and avoid suspicious files or attachments if they do manage to get through protection measures. See our previous feature on staff IT security training for more on this.
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