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Article:
Computer-Virus Writer's: A Few Bats In The Belfry? by: Dean Phillips 'Male. Obsessed with computers. Lacking a girlfriend. Aged 14 to 34. Capable of creating chaos worldwide.' The above description is the profile of the average computer-virus writer, according to Jan Hruska, the chief executive of British-based Sophos PLC, the world's fourth-largest anti-virus solutions provider. 'They have a chronic lack of girlfriends, are usually socially inadequate and are drawn compulsively to write self- replicating codes. It's a form of digital graffiti to them,' Hruska added. To create and spread cyber infections, virus writers explore known bugs in existing software, or look for vulnerabilities in new versions. With more and more new OS (operating system) versions, there will be more new forms of viruses, as every single software or OS will carry new features, and new executables that can be carriers of the infection. Executables are files that launch applications in a computer's operating system, and feature more prominently in new platforms like Microsoft's Windows 2000 and Windows XP than they did in the older DOS or Windows 3.1. Virus writers also share information to create variants of the same infection, such as the Klez worm, which has been among the world's most prolific viruses. The Klez, a mass-mailing worm that originated in November '2001
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