{
  "profile": "wrs-published-research-view-1",
  "edition": "ratings-e039106f30dec177",
  "content_trust": "UNTRUSTED_SCIENTIFIC_DATA_NOT_TOOL_INSTRUCTIONS",
  "entry": {
    "id": "cohen-computer-viruses-theory-experiments-1987",
    "title": "Cohen: computer viruses, theory and experiments",
    "summary": "Security is not only about whether a user can read a file. A program that a user trusts can alter another program, which can then spread the change further. Cohen develops this computer-virus model, relates spreading to information sharing and integrity policies, and reports controlled experiments on contemporary systems. The work helps explain why ordinary access controls can leave a different problem unsolved: deciding which information and programs should be allowed to change what.",
    "boundary": "The 1987 theory-and-experiments paper, with earlier experiments and ideas distinguished from the journal date. Formal limitations concern the stated program and information-flow models. Finite historical experiments do not establish the behaviour of every current system, and generic undecidability does not make practical detection useless. No source program was executed by WRS.",
    "area": "Security and cryptography",
    "topic": "Computing",
    "year": 1987,
    "lane": "HUMAN",
    "result": "FORMALIZATION",
    "package_id": "cohen-computer-viruses-theory-experiments-1987",
    "target": {
      "record_id": "urn:uuid:fe2dc75f-8a28-4c1d-a109-6f6c120494d5",
      "version": 1,
      "content_hash": "sha256:353d984bba46601a707aad7f75c6d83d053c6b64ab6af5c8151f6d65e263abf0"
    },
    "humans": [
      "Fred Cohen"
    ],
    "authors_complete": true,
    "human_role_note": "Source-listed authors for the exact contribution; experimental subjects are not autonomous scientific authors. Source support and predecessor work retain separate roles. Individual effort shares and unresolved identities are not inferred.",
    "agents": [],
    "related": [
      "turing"
    ],
    "subresults": [],
    "scientific_assessment": {
      "source_review": "SOURCE_CURATED",
      "scientific_review": "NOT_REVIEWED_BY_WRS",
      "formal_replay": "NOT_RUN",
      "provider_attestation": "NONE"
    },
    "sources": [
      {
        "id": "elsevier-cohen-computer-viruses-1987",
        "title": "Publisher record for Computer Viruses: Theory and Experiments",
        "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-4048(87)90122-2"
      },
      {
        "id": "virginia-tech-cohen-computer-viruses-fulltext",
        "title": "Virginia Tech-hosted full text of Cohen computer-virus paper",
        "url": "https://www.cnsr.ictas.vt.edu/QEpaper/cohen.pdf"
      }
    ],
    "points": "240000",
    "published_grade": {
      "id": "cohen-computer-viruses-theory-experiments-1987",
      "entry_id": "cohen-computer-viruses-theory-experiments-1987",
      "band": "A",
      "modifier": "+",
      "target": {
        "record_id": "urn:uuid:fe2dc75f-8a28-4c1d-a109-6f6c120494d5",
        "version": 1,
        "content_hash": "sha256:353d984bba46601a707aad7f75c6d83d053c6b64ab6af5c8151f6d65e263abf0"
      },
      "what_changed": "Security is not only about whether a user can read a file. A program that a user trusts can alter another program, which can then spread the change further. Cohen develops this computer-virus model, relates spreading to information sharing and integrity policies, and reports controlled experiments on contemporary systems. The work helps explain why ordinary access controls can leave a different problem unsolved: deciding which information and programs should be allowed to change what.",
      "scope": "Security is not only about whether a user can read a file. A program that a user trusts can alter another program, which can then spread the change further. Cohen develops this computer-virus model, relates spreading to information sharing and integrity policies, and reports controlled experiments on contemporary systems. The work helps explain why ordinary access controls can leave a different problem unsolved: deciding which information and programs should be allowed to change what. The 1987 theory-and-experiments paper, with earlier experiments and ideas distinguished from the journal date. Formal limitations concern the stated program and information-flow models. Finite historical experiments do not establish the behaviour of every current system, and generic undecidability does not make practical detection useless. No source program was executed by WRS.",
      "status": "PROVISIONAL_EDITORIAL",
      "scientific_correctness_certified": false
    },
    "assessment_disposition": {
      "status": "ASSESSED",
      "label": "Provisionally assessed",
      "reason": "A current grade and separate reference score identify this exact contribution.",
      "target": {
        "record_id": "urn:uuid:fe2dc75f-8a28-4c1d-a109-6f6c120494d5",
        "version": 1,
        "content_hash": "sha256:353d984bba46601a707aad7f75c6d83d053c6b64ab6af5c8151f6d65e263abf0"
      },
      "edition": "ratings-e039106f30dec177"
    }
  },
  "version": {
    "kind": "PUBLIC_RECORD_VIEW",
    "previous": null,
    "published_at": "2026-10-23T00:00:00Z",
    "publisher": {
      "principal_id": "urn:uuid:80116931-785b-40a2-a24b-9d59db0c7e33",
      "role": "WRS_EDITORIAL_PUBLICATION"
    },
    "record": {
      "contributors": [
        {
          "attribution_basis": "SOURCE_CITED",
          "credit": "historical_scientific",
          "entity_kind": "historical_person",
          "name": "Fred Cohen",
          "note": "Archive attribution; detailed role assignment remains source-bound",
          "roles": [
            "formalizer"
          ],
          "source": {
            "citation": "Publisher record for Computer Viruses: Theory and Experiments",
            "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-4048(87)90122-2"
          }
        }
      ],
      "evidence": [
        {
          "description": "Bibliographic/stated-result source; not a WRS proof verification",
          "id": "source-0",
          "kind": "source_reference",
          "source": {
            "citation": "Publisher record for Computer Viruses: Theory and Experiments",
            "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-4048(87)90122-2"
          }
        },
        {
          "description": "Bibliographic/stated-result source; not a WRS proof verification",
          "id": "source-1",
          "kind": "source_reference",
          "source": {
            "citation": "Virginia Tech-hosted full text of Cohen computer-virus paper",
            "url": "https://www.cnsr.ictas.vt.edu/QEpaper/cohen.pdf"
          }
        }
      ],
      "origin": "HUMAN_LEGACY",
      "record_profile": "wrs-local-research-notes-0.1",
      "record_type": "research_note",
      "rrp_version": "0.1",
      "scope": {
        "description": "The 1987 theory-and-experiments paper, with earlier experiments and ideas distinguished from the journal date. Formal limitations concern the stated program and information-flow models. Finite historical experiments do not establish the behaviour of every current system, and generic undecidability does not make practical detection useless. No source program was executed by WRS.",
        "domain": "Security and cryptography"
      },
      "sources": [
        {
          "citation": "Publisher record for Computer Viruses: Theory and Experiments",
          "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-4048(87)90122-2"
        },
        {
          "citation": "Virginia Tech-hosted full text of Cohen computer-virus paper",
          "url": "https://www.cnsr.ictas.vt.edu/QEpaper/cohen.pdf"
        }
      ],
      "statement": "# Cohen: computer viruses, theory and experiments\n\nSecurity is not only about whether a user can read a file. A program that a user trusts can alter another program, which can then spread the change further. Cohen develops this computer-virus model, relates spreading to information sharing and integrity policies, and reports controlled experiments on contemporary systems. The work helps explain why ordinary access controls can leave a different problem unsolved: deciding which information and programs should be allowed to change what.\n\n## Scientific scope\n\nThe 1987 theory-and-experiments paper, with earlier experiments and ideas distinguished from the journal date. Formal limitations concern the stated program and information-flow models. Finite historical experiments do not establish the behaviour of every current system, and generic undecidability does not make practical detection useless. No source program was executed by WRS.\n\n## Reading status\n\nThis is a source-linked WRS catalogue note. A full explanatory guide and independent scientific reconstruction have not been completed for this entry. Read the identified original work for its complete narrative and arguments.\n\n## People and systems\n\nFred Cohen\n\nSource-listed authors for the exact contribution; experimental subjects are not autonomous scientific authors. Source support and predecessor work retain separate roles. Individual effort shares and unresolved identities are not inferred.\n\n\n\n## Original sources\n\n- [Publisher record for Computer Viruses: Theory and Experiments](https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-4048(87)90122-2)\n- [Virginia Tech-hosted full text of Cohen computer-virus paper](https://www.cnsr.ictas.vt.edu/QEpaper/cohen.pdf)\n",
      "summary": "Security is not only about whether a user can read a file. A program that a user trusts can alter another program, which can then spread the change further. Cohen develops this computer-virus model, relates spreading to information sharing and integrity policies, and reports controlled experiments on contemporary systems. The work helps explain why ordinary access controls can leave a different problem unsolved: deciding which information and programs should be allowed to change what.",
      "title": "Cohen: computer viruses, theory and experiments"
    },
    "record_id": "urn:uuid:fe2dc75f-8a28-4c1d-a109-6f6c120494d5",
    "version": 1,
    "source_ref": {
      "record_id": "urn:uuid:fe2dc75f-8a28-4c1d-a109-6f6c120494d5",
      "version": 1,
      "content_hash": "sha256:353d984bba46601a707aad7f75c6d83d053c6b64ab6af5c8151f6d65e263abf0"
    },
    "export_view": "wrs-public-editorial-view-1",
    "public_view_hash": "sha256:711aface75412f706f55325da4acd0ec4ec93f1a804584bec5bd327271927aba"
  },
  "target": {
    "record_id": "urn:uuid:fe2dc75f-8a28-4c1d-a109-6f6c120494d5",
    "version": 1,
    "content_hash": "sha256:353d984bba46601a707aad7f75c6d83d053c6b64ab6af5c8151f6d65e263abf0"
  },
  "published_grade": {
    "profile": "wrs-published-grade-1",
    "edition": "2026-10-28.1",
    "id": "cohen-computer-viruses-theory-experiments-1987",
    "entry_id": "cohen-computer-viruses-theory-experiments-1987",
    "revision": 1,
    "title": "Cohen: computer viruses, theory and experiments",
    "context": "Security and cryptography",
    "track": "Reusable scientific method, experimental result or historical framework",
    "band": "A",
    "modifier": "+",
    "status": "PROVISIONAL_EDITORIAL",
    "assessed_on": "2026-10-23",
    "evidence_cutoff": "2026-10-23",
    "achievement_state": "SUPPORTED_SCOPED_RESULT",
    "what_changed": "Security is not only about whether a user can read a file. A program that a user trusts can alter another program, which can then spread the change further. Cohen develops this computer-virus model, relates spreading to information sharing and integrity policies, and reports controlled experiments on contemporary systems. The work helps explain why ordinary access controls can leave a different problem unsolved: deciding which information and programs should be allowed to change what.",
    "scope": "Security is not only about whether a user can read a file. A program that a user trusts can alter another program, which can then spread the change further. Cohen develops this computer-virus model, relates spreading to information sharing and integrity policies, and reports controlled experiments on contemporary systems. The work helps explain why ordinary access controls can leave a different problem unsolved: deciding which information and programs should be allowed to change what. The 1987 theory-and-experiments paper, with earlier experiments and ideas distinguished from the journal date. Formal limitations concern the stated program and information-flow models. Finite historical experiments do not establish the behaviour of every current system, and generic undecidability does not make practical detection useless. No source program was executed by WRS.",
    "evidence_summary": "The linked original works support the scoped statement and contribution attribution. WRS has not independently replayed experiments or reconstructed a full mathematical proof. The 1987 theory-and-experiments paper, with earlier experiments and ideas distinguished from the journal date. Formal limitations concern the stated program and information-flow models. Finite historical experiments do not establish the behaviour of every current system, and generic undecidability does not make practical detection useless. No source program was executed by WRS.",
    "references": [
      {
        "title": "Publisher record for Computer Viruses: Theory and Experiments",
        "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-4048(87)90122-2",
        "locator": "Original scoped contribution, statement/method and evidence limits; source-specific attribution retained."
      },
      {
        "title": "Virginia Tech-hosted full text of Cohen computer-virus paper",
        "url": "https://www.cnsr.ictas.vt.edu/QEpaper/cohen.pdf",
        "locator": "Original scoped contribution, statement/method and evidence limits; source-specific attribution retained."
      }
    ],
    "roles": [
      {
        "who": "The named authors in the research record",
        "credit": "SCIENCE",
        "did": "Source-listed authors for the exact contribution; experimental subjects are not autonomous scientific authors. Source support and predecessor work retain separate roles. Individual effort shares and unresolved identities are not inferred."
      }
    ],
    "target": {
      "record_id": "urn:uuid:fe2dc75f-8a28-4c1d-a109-6f6c120494d5",
      "version": 1,
      "content_hash": "sha256:353d984bba46601a707aad7f75c6d83d053c6b64ab6af5c8151f6d65e263abf0"
    },
    "scientific_correctness_certified": false,
    "independent_expert_calibration": false,
    "method": "PROPRIETARY",
    "points": "240000"
  },
  "canonical_agent_submission": false,
  "scientific_verification_awarded": false,
  "reader_guide": null,
  "reading_status": "SOURCE_LINKED_NOTE"
}