вирус
имя существительное [латинский язык] 1) а) [медицина] вирус Например: There are many different strains of flu virus. — Имеется много штаммов вируса гриппа. б) [используется в разговорной речи] вирусное заболевание, вирусная инфекция 2) зараза, дурное веяние; нечто, губительно действующее на общество и его мораль Например: pernicious virus of racism — разрушительный вирус нацизма 3) [информатика и компьютерные технологии] (компьютерный) вирус Например: Hackers are said to have started a new computer virus. — Говорят, что хакеры запустили новый компьютерный вирус.
[компьютерный] вирус тип программ, характеризующихся способностью скрытого от пользователя саморазмножения для поражения других программ, компьютеров или сетей. Под саморазмножением понимается способность вируса создавать собственную копию и внедрять её в тело заражаемого файла, в загрузочный сектор диска, почтовые сообщения и т. п. Существует множество видов таких программ. По среде обитания вирусы делятся на загрузочные (boot virus), резидентные, файловые, дисковые, флэш-вирусы и сетевые. Термин предложен Фредом Коэном (Кохен) в 1983 г., ещё когда он был студентом Университета Южной Калифорнии Смотри также: antivirus, bacteria, content virus, cryptovirus, file infector, ill-behaved software, infection, information warfare, logic bomb, macro virus, phage, polymorphic virus, stealth virus, Trojan horse, vaccine, virus scanner, virus writer, worm
noun (plural viruses) Etymology: Latin, venom, poisonous emanation; akin to Greek ios poison, Sanskrit viṣa; in senses 2 and 4, from New Latin, from Latin 1. archaic venom 1 2. a. the causative agent of an infectious disease b. any of a large group of submicroscopic infective agents that are regarded either as extremely simple microorganisms or as extremely complex molecules, that typically contain a protein coat surrounding an RNA or DNA core of genetic material but no semipermeable membrane, that are capable of growth and multiplication only in living cells, and that cause various important diseases in humans, lower animals, or plants; also filterable virus c. a disease or illness caused by a virus 3. something that poisons the mind or soul Example: the force of this virus of prejudice — V. S. Waters 4. a computer program that is usually hidden within another seemingly innocuous program and that produces copies of itself and inserts them into other programs and usually performs a malicious action (as destroying data)
(By analogy with biological viruses, via science fiction) A program or piece of code, a type of malware, written by a cracker, that "infects" one or more other programs by embedding a copy of itself in them, so that they become Trojan horses. When these programs are executed, the embedded virus is executed too, thus propagating the "infection". This normally happens invisibly to the user. A virus has an "engine" - code that enables it to propagate and optionally a "payload" - what it does apart from propagating. It needs a "host" - the particular hardware and software environment on which it can run and a "trigger" - the event that starts it running. Unlike a worm, a virus cannot infect other computers without assistance. It is propagated by vectors such as humans trading programs with their friends (see SEX). The virus may do nothing but propagate itself and then allow the program to run normally. Usually, however, after propagating silently for a while, it starts doing things like writing "cute" messages on the terminal or playing strange tricks with the display (some viruses include display hacks). Viruses written by particularly antisocial crackers may do irreversible damage, like deleting files. By the 1990s, viruses had become a serious problem, especially among IBM PC and Macintosh users (the lack of security on these machines enables viruses to spread easily, even infecting the operating system). The production of special antivirus software has become an industry, and a number of exaggerated media reports have caused outbreaks of near hysteria among users. Many lusers tend to blame *everything* that doesn't work as they had expected on virus attacks. Accordingly, this sense of "virus" has passed into popular usage where it is often incorrectly used for other types of malware such as worms or Trojan horses. See boot virus, phage. Compare back door. See also Unix conspiracy.