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                      [1.2] Viruses- What, Where, Why, How
     
     
          If  you  are a beginner in this field, you may be curious to what 
     a  virus/trojan  is.  Perhaps  you heard about it through some BBS, or 
     known  someone  who had their system crashed by one. Well, this is for 
     you.
     
          In  the  Trojan  War,  way  back  when,  there existed the Trojan 
     Horse,  right? Well, nowadays, there is a modern version of the Trojan 
     Horse  existing  is  software.  The  modern, computer, Trojan horse is 
     really  simple,  a psychedelic hacker implants destructive code into a 
     normal  (or  fake)  file.  This modified/fake file, when executed will 
     destroy  or  remove  something  from the host computer, usually format 
     the  hard  drive,  delete all files, or something similar. In order to 
     distribute  the corrupt phile, the hacker goes and does one or more of 
     various  things;  depending on how deranged this individual is (hehe). 
     These things are covered in the following section.
     
          A  virus,  in  normal  terms  is an organism which spreads malign 
     from  one  host  to  another,  transmitting  itself through biological 
     lines  so  that  both  the  previous  host  and the future host become 
     infected  with  the virus. Today, there are computer viruses, and just 
     like  biological viruses, they spread from file to file, host to host, 
     infecting  everything  it  "sees."  These  computer viruses can either 
     destroy  the  code  it  infects immediately, or over a period of time, 
     corrupt  or  damage  the  host  system it thrives upon. For example, a 
     virus  hidden in a file on a BBS could be downloaded to a host system. 
     Then,  the  user  who  downloaded it executes the file, which executes 
     normally  (as  seen  by the operator), but at the same time, the virus 
     attacks  other files, and infects them, so that each file owned by the 
     user  becomes  infected  with the virus. Then, at a given time or when 
     something  is fulfilled by the host system, the virus becomes a trojan 
     and  destroys,  encrypts, or damages everything available, infected or 
     un-infected.  In  general,  a  virus is a timed trojan that duplicates 
     itself  to  other  files,  which, in effect sustains the virus's life-
     span  in  the  computer world, as more host systems are infiltrated by 
     the disease.
     
          Now  that  I've given you a description of the computer virus and 
     trojan, we can go onto more complex things... well, not really...
     
          Ok,  now, let's trace the life of a virus. A virus/trojan is born 
     in  the  mind  of  some  hacker/programmer  that  decides  to  develop 
     something   out   of   the   ordinary,  not  all  viruses/trojans  are 
     destructive,  often, some are amusing! Anyway, the hacker programs the 
     code  in  his/her  favorite  language;  viruses  can be developed with 
     virtually  any  language,  BASIC,  Pascal,  C, Assembly, Machine Code, 
     Batch  files,  and  many  more. Then, when the disease is complete and 
     tested,  the  hacker intentionally infects or implants the code into a 
     host  file,  a  file  that  would be executed by another un-suspecting 
     user,  somewhere  out there. Then, the hacker does one or more of many 
     things  to  distribute  his  baby.  The hacker can upload the infected 
     file  to  a local BBS (or many local/LD BBS's), give the infected file 
     to  a  computer  enemy,  upload the infected file to his/her workplace 
     (if  desired...hehe),  or  execute  the  phile  on  spot,  on the host 
     system.  Then,  the virus, gets downloaded or executed, it infiltrates 
     the  host  system,  and  either  infects  other  files, or trashes the 
     system  instantly.  Eventually,  the infected system's user gets smart 
     and either trashes his system manually and starts fresh, or some mega-
     technical  user  attempts  to recover and remove the virus from all of 
     the  infected files (a horrendous job). Then, the virus dies, or other 
     host  systems that were previously infected continue, and accidentally 
     upload  or  hand out infected files, spreading the disease. Isn't that 
     neat?
     
          Now,  to  answer  your  questions;  I  already  explained  what a 
     virus/trojan  is  and  how they are developed/destroyed. Now, where do 
     these  suckers come from? Why, some hacker's computer room, of course! 
     All  viruses  and  trojans  begin at some computer where some maniacal 
     hacker  programs  the  code  and implants it somewhere. Then, you ask, 
     why  do they do this? Why hack? Why phreak? Why make stupid pyro piles 
     of  shit?  Think about it... This is an ART! Just like the rest. While 
     Hacking  delivers  theft  of  services,  Phreaking  delivers  theft of 
     services,  Cracking/Pirating  delivers theft of software and copyright 
     law  breaks,  Pyro  delivers  unlawful  arson/explosives,  Viruses and 
     Trojans  vandalize  (yes,  legally  it is vandalism and destruction of 
     property)  computer  systems  and  files. Also, these are great to get 
     back  at arch-computer enemies (for you computer nerds out there), and 
     just  wreak  havoc  among  your computer community. Yeah, PHUN at it's 
     best...
     
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