Twenty Years Ago

11-4-88 . . . In the news: A computer “virus” has “infected” defense and industry computers. It was apparently made by a graduate student, though the student’s identity isn’t known. The virus, a short program, gets onto computer disks and then either changes them or erases them. It replicates itself, hides itself on the ROM (read-only memory), and can be transmitted to any computer interacting with the “host”—even by telephone modem. According to news reports, the virus has already infected a nationwide defense network, causing shutdowns and delays. Many universities are affected, since they’re part of the defense network. What I find interesting is the terminology used to describe what is happening. The term “virus” is borrowed from medicine (actually, biology). A virus is an organism capable of causing disease, which, to extend the term “disease” to cover computer malfunctions, is what the program in question does. If the metaphor is extended further, we can expect talk of immunization, quarantining (of computers and software), and cures. As in medicine, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. To me, the virus is not a problem, though it could be, since I received disks from David Cortner and Andrea Hapeman. I’ll have to keep “bacteria” from my word-processing system.