AWhat 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.
Scientific 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
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.
Contributors
- The named authors in the research record · SCIENCE: 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.
- Publisher record for Computer Viruses: Theory and Experiments
- Virginia Tech-hosted full text of Cohen computer-virus paper
Provisional WRS assessment, edition 2026-10-23.3. Independent expert calibration is pending. This grade does not certify correctness or assign ownership.
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