Virus is one of the biggest problems in the area of computer operations. When a new virus hits the Internet, there is little that an anti-virus software can do to stop the malware on that very day. Now, a team of British engineers has come up with a solution to that pestering problem.
A defence technology company, based in Worcestershire, has invented a way to stop viruses in their tracks by intercepting every file that could possibly hide a virus and adding a string of computer codes to it that will disable any virus it contains. The new technique mainly targets e-mailed attachments and adds the extra code to them as they pass through a mail server. A key feature of the scheme is that no knowledge of the virus itself is needed. Hence, it can successfully deal with new, unrecognized viruses as well as older and known ones.
Virus writers disguise harmful files as innocuous documents to fool unsuspecting users into unknowingly converting them into executable program files. The scientists aim to prevent this by inserting a line of machine codes-the raw code that the microprocessor chips understand -into the header area of incoming files. This is the part of the file that holds the formatting data that defines such aspects as a document's layout and fonts. If the file is simply opened by another programme, the code is ignored. But if someone attempts to run it as an independent programme, the new code will run first and stop the rest of the programme in its tracks, either by exiting or by sending it into an infinite loop.
A defence technology company, based in Worcestershire, has invented a way to stop viruses in their tracks by intercepting every file that could possibly hide a virus and adding a string of computer codes to it that will disable any virus it contains. The new technique mainly targets e-mailed attachments and adds the extra code to them as they pass through a mail server. A key feature of the scheme is that no knowledge of the virus itself is needed. Hence, it can successfully deal with new, unrecognized viruses as well as older and known ones.
Virus writers disguise harmful files as innocuous documents to fool unsuspecting users into unknowingly converting them into executable program files. The scientists aim to prevent this by inserting a line of machine codes-the raw code that the microprocessor chips understand -into the header area of incoming files. This is the part of the file that holds the formatting data that defines such aspects as a document's layout and fonts. If the file is simply opened by another programme, the code is ignored. But if someone attempts to run it as an independent programme, the new code will run first and stop the rest of the programme in its tracks, either by exiting or by sending it into an infinite loop.
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