What is recorded here?
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.
Source-linked catalogue note. A detailed explanatory guide has not yet been prepared for this entry.
Scientific scope
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.
Read the original work
- Publisher record for Computer Viruses: Theory and Experiments
- Virginia Tech-hosted full text of Cohen computer-virus paper
This English explanation is an editorial reading view. It does not replace the complete original work or certify its science.
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People and systems
Fred Cohen
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.
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English catalogue narrative
Cohen: computer viruses, theory and experiments
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.
Scientific scope
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.
Reading status
This 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.
People and systems
Fred Cohen
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.