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Virus - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Virus : (noun)
1: (virology) ultramicroscopic infectious agent that replicates
itself only within cells of living hosts; many are
pathogenic; a piece of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) wrapped
in a thin coat of protein
2: a harmful or corrupting agency; "bigotry is a virus that
must not be allowed to spread"; "the virus of jealousy is
latent in everyone"
3: a software program capable of reproducing itself and usually
capable of causing great harm to files or other programs
on the same computer; "a true virus cannot spread to
another computer without human assistance" [syn: computer
virus]
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Virus : \Vi"rus\, n. [L., a slimy liquid, a poisonous liquid,
poison, stench; akin to Gr. ? poison, Skr. visha. Cf.
Wizen, v. i.]
1. (Med.)
(a) Contagious or poisonous matter, as of specific ulcers,
the bite of snakes, etc.; -- applied to organic
poisons.
(b) The special contagion, inappreciable to the senses and
acting in exceedingly minute quantities, by which a
disease is introduced into the organism and maintained
there.
Note: The specific virus of diseases is now regarded as a
microscopic living vegetable organism which multiplies
within the body, and, either by its own action or by
the associated development of a chemical poison, causes
the phenomena of the special disease.
2. Fig.: Any morbid corrupting quality in intellectual or
moral conditions; something that poisons the mind or the
soul; as, the virus of obscene books.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Virus :
(By analogy with biological viruses, via SF) A
program or piece of code 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 a worm
or Trojan horse.
See boot virus, phage. Compare back door. See also
Unix conspiracy.
[{Jargon File]
(2003-06-20)
Based on the Online Dictionary of Computing [Computer_Dictionary]:
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Virus : n. [from the obvious analogy with biological viruses, via SF] A
cracker program that searches out other programs and `infects' them 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. 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 nice display hacks). Many nasty viruses,
written by particularly perversely minded crackers, do irreversible
damage, like nuking all the user's files.
In the 1990s, viruses became a serious problem, especially among
Windows users; the lack of security on these machines enables viruses to
spread easily, even infecting the operating system (Unix machines, by
contrast, are immune to such attacks). The production of special
anti-virus 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
not only into techspeak but into also popular usage (where it is often
incorrectly used to denote a worm or even a Trojan horse). See
phage; compare back door; see also Unix conspiracy.
Based on Jargon File : [Hackers_Dictionary]:
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Virus : Virus: A microorganism smaller than a bacteria, which cannot grow or reproduce apart from a living cell. A virus invades living cells and uses their chemical machinery to keep itself alive
and to replicate itself. It may reproduce with fidelity or with errors (mutations)-this ability to mutate is responsible for the ability of some viruses to change slightly in each infected person,
making treatment more difficult.
Viruses cause many common human infections, and are also responsible for a bevy of rare diseases. Examples of viral illnesses range from the common cold , which is usually caused by one of the
rhinoviruses, to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Viruses may contain either DNA or RNA as their genetic material. Herpes simplex virus and the hepatitis- B virus are DNA viruses. RNA viruses have an enzyme called reverse transcriptase that
permits the usual sequence of DNA-to-RNA to be reversed so the virus can make a DNA version of itself. RNA viruses include HIV and the hepatitis C virus.
Researchers have grouped viruses together into several major families, based on their shape, behavior, and other characteristics. These include the herpesviruses, adenoviruses, papovaviruses
(papilloma viruses), hepadnaviruses, poxviruses, and parvoviruses among the DNA viruses. On the RNA virus side, major families include the picornaviruses (including the rhinoviruses), calciviruses,
paramyxoviruses, orthomyxoviruses, rhabdoviruses, filoviruses, bornaviruses, and retroviruses. There are dozens of smaller virus families within these major classifications. Many viruses are
host-specific, causing disease in humans or specific animals only.
Based on Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [Hackers_Dictionary]:
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Example Usage of Virus |
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lycheeland: Moi vouloir être admin sur mon ordi du bureau. Moi vouloir installer des .exe gentils et pas plein de Virus. |
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JCvoodoo: Awww great, my pc has a Virus. Now how do I play WoW and where do I get my porn from? http://bit.ly/5WP0IW |
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rokithiago: ADD ESSA COMUNIDADE GALERA , MUITO PHODA A COMU :D
http://www.orkut.com.br/Main#Community?cmm=56595356
Juro que não é Virus :} |
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