from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.) Contagious or poisonous matter, as of specific
ulcers, the bite of snakes, etc.; -- applied to organic
poisons. [Archaic]
[1913 Webster +PJC]
2. the causative agent of a disease, . [obsolescent]
[PJC]
3. any of numerous submicroscopic complex organic objects
which have genetic material and may be considered as
living organisms but have no proper cell membrane, and
thus cannot by themselves perform metabolic processes,
requiring entry into a host cell in order to multiply. The
simplest viruses have no lipid envelope and may be
considered as complex aggregates of molecules, sometimes
only a nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) and a coat protein. They
are sometimes viewed as being on the borderline between
living and nonliving objects. They are smaller than living
cells in size, usually between 20 and 300 nm; thus they
pass through standard filters, and were previously
referred to as {filterable virus}. The manifestations of
disease caused by multiplication of viruses in cells may
be due to destruction of the cells caused by subversion of
the cellular metabolic processes by the virus, or by
synthesis of a virus-specific toxin. Viruses may infect
animals, plants, or microorganisms; those infecting
bacteria are also called {bacteriophages}. Certain
bacteriophages may be non-destructive and benign in the
host; -- see {bacteriophage}.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
4. Fig.: Any morbid corrupting quality in intellectual or
moral conditions; something that poisons the mind or the
soul; as, the virus of obscene books.
[1913 Webster]
5. (Computers) a program or segment of program code that may
make copies of itself (replicate), attach itself to other
programs, and perform unwanted actions within a computer;
also called {computer virus} or {virus program}. Such
programs are almost always introduced into a computer
without the knowledge or assent of its owner, and are
often malicious, causing destructive actions such as
erasing data on disk, but sometime only annoying, causing
peculiar objects to appear on the display. The form of
sociopathic mental disease that causes a programmer to
write such a program has not yet been given a name.
Compare {trojan horse[3]}.
[PJC]
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
virus
computer virus
viruses
<security> (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}.
[{Jargon File}]
(2003-06-20)