Do The Media Spread Computer Viruses?

Here's an interesting article about the media. Specifically asking the question does media hype encourage spreading computer viruses. Check it out.


Do The Media Spread Computer Viruses?

By: Joel Walsh

Summary: Could the mass media hype about computer viruses
actually make the problem worse?

If you believe what you hear in the media, there are an awful
lot of viruses going around. No, I'm not talking about the
make-you-sick kind of virus, though they get plenty of airtime,
too. I'm talking about the kind of virus that enters via your
internet connection rather than your nasal passages.

What the mainstream media often don't tell you--at least, in
most radio and television newscasts and in the crucial headlines
and opening paragraphs of newspaper articles-- is that many of
these "viruses" are not viruses at all.

What Computer Viruses Really Are

The main reason the mainstream media always are in alarm over
viruses is that they tend to call any malicious computer program
a virus. In reality, there are at least eleven distinct types of
malicious software, or malware, commonly affecting computers
today. The most common of these are worms, Trojans, and spyware.

So, what's the difference between computer viruses and the other
types of malware? The difference is that computer viruses are
just about the only ones that regularly shut down computers and
cause other obvious damage. The most common of the other kinds
of malware--worms, Trojans, and spyware--are usually only
detectable with a special scan.

The Real Danger of Computer Viruses

If the other types of malware are so unobtrusive that they can
only be detected with a special scan, then what's to worry
about? For starters, these programs are called malicious for a
reason: they are designed to cause some kind of damage, if not
to your computer, then to someone else's.

Worms are most famously used to damage, destroy, or disrupt
other computer networks than the one on which the host computer
is located. For instance, worms have been used by website owners
to shut down rival websites by sending overwhelming numbers of
requests to the computer that hosts that website. Worms have
also been used to send out viruses to other computers, often
without infecting the host machine--after all, what would it
benefit the worm to shut down its host computer?

Trojans, in turn, are often used to insert worms and other
malware on your computer, even if the Trojan itself does no
damage.

But even if you don't care what happens to anyone else, you
should still be concerned about one kind of malware: spyware, a
kind of malware that, true to its name, collects data from your
computer and sends it back to a remote host.

Most spyware is only interested in monitoring your internet
usage so it can tell other programs, called adware, what
advertising to popup on your computer. However, there are
criminal spyware programs that steal financial data, or perform
a thorough identity theft. Don't think you have personal or
financial data on your computer? Some spyware programs contain a
keylogger, which is a program that copies whatever you type,
usually in order to snatch passwords. Even if you keep no
financial information on your computer, if you ever buy anything
over the web, the keylogger would allow its owner to buy stuff
using the same information you typed in to buy stuff yourself.

Why Blame the Media?

Given the danger of all these different types of malware, isn't
it a good thing that the mass media are becoming hysterical
about it? And can't they be forgiven the sloppy reporting of
calling Trojans, worms, spyware, and other malware "viruses"?

No, no, no.

This is a classic case of bad reporting doing more damage than
no reporting at all. In this case, the damage bad reporting has
done is to promote a common myth that goes something like this:
"The only malicious software is a virus. Viruses damage your
computer. Therefore, if my computer is working OK, my computer
has no malicious software. I only need to scan my computer for
problems when there is a sign of problems."

Thanks to this myth, many people complacently let their
antivirus software go months out of date, not wanting to be
bothered with scheduling an automatic update. Just as bad, many
people don't have any extra software to combat the other types
of malware that may not be covered by antivirus software.

In fact, it's not uncommon for people who have found malware on
their computers after a scan to say, "but I never had malware on
my computer before!" But how would they have known if they had
never scanned!

Until the biggest mainstream media--and especially
television--start educating the public about the need to have
their computers automatically scanned at least daily, the world
will continue to have major, drawn-out problems with malware
that could have been wiped out as soon as soon as the
anti-malware software makers discovered it.

And until that day, the mainstream media will have many more
opportunities to run hysterical stories about "viruses," thereby
forcing them to sell more newspapers and broadcast to even
larger audiences of people who suck at the information trough
yet somehow never become full.

About the author:
Joel Walsh writes on all types of malware for
spyware-refuge.com:
http://www.spyware-refuge.com?%20adware%20spyware%20program